[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 29, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   FISCAL YEAR 2000 ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE REPORT

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Energy & Water Appropriations 
Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2000 passed the Senate by an 
overwhelming vote of 96-3 yesterday. I thank my friend and colleague, 
the senior Senator from new Mexico and chairman of the subcommittee, 
for his excellent work in negotiating this bill and bringing back a 
very strong conference report. I'd also like to commend our 
extraordinarily talented and creative staff, Alex Flint, David 
Gwaltney, and Lashawnda Leftwich without whom we could no have finished 
this bill.
  There are three programs I would like to highlight. First, the 
conferees have provided $98.7 million for biomass research. Last week, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on biomass and heard testimony about a 
proposal by Sealaska Corporation to produce ethanol using surplus wood. 
I urge the Secretary to take a careful look at this project and support 
it within the funds provided.
  Second, with respect to the wind program, the conferees funded it at 
$31.2 million, an increase over the House level. Over the past few 
years, the Department has supported the Kozebue wind demonstration 
project, the only wind generation system in my state. According to the 
National Weather Service, the windiest cities in the country are in 
Alaska. If the Kotzebue project proves to be cost efficient, wind may 
become a major source of electrical power in my state where electric 
rates are as much as ten times the rate in the lower 48: 55 cents per 
kilowatt hour in Alaska versus 5 cents per kilowatt hour in states like 
Idaho. I urge the Department to continue its support of the Kotzebue 
wind project.
  Lastly, the managers agreed to language urging the Department of 
Energy to evaluate nuclear medicine technology known as Positron 
Emission Technology or PET.
  I am pleased that the conference report includes strong language 
directing the Department of Energy to report back to the committee on 
what steps it can take to give immediate support to a new laboratory at 
the University of California--Los Angeles which will develop pioneering 
new molecular-based treatments for disease.
  These new treatments will use genetically engineered mouse models of 
several human diseases and track progress with a miniaturized version 
of positron emission tomography (PET) called Micropet.
  While scientists and clinicians have been able to diagnose and stage 
human illnesses, including most types of cancer and other diseases such 
as Parkinson's and Alzheimers' using pet imaging, the UCLA research 
promises to expand the examination of the biologic basis of disease 
into new treatment of the molecular disorders that scientists now 
believe are the cause of disease.
  I understand that the new laboratory at UCLA will need at least $2 
million in Federal funds during fiscal year 2000 from the other office 
at the Department of Energy, and I hope that the Department will make 
every effort to provide the needed funds to bring this critical project 
on line at the earliest time it can.

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