[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 120 (Monday, October 2, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1640-E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4733, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2000

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I cannot support the Energy and Water 
Appropriations conference report.
  As Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee and its former Chairman, 
I have generally opposed attempts to legislate on these bills, 
regardless of the substance of the matter or the party affiliation of 
the Member proposing such provisions. However, the continued failure of 
this Congress to reauthorize the President's authority to operate the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve prompted me to reluctantly support the 
efforts of House Appropriations Democrats to attach a simple 
reauthorization of the Reserve to the Energy and Water Appropriations 
bill. I also did not object to bipartisan efforts to attach legislative 
language providing the President the means to establish and operate a 
northeast heating oil reserve. Both these legislative priorities, which 
had passed the House overwhelmingly with the support of the Commerce 
Committee had been and continue to be held up in the Senate, so we 
attached these provisions to the appropriations bill as a last attempt 
to ensure their enactment into law.
  But the Republican conferees dropped these provisions that were 
strongly supported by the American people and, so it seemed, by not 
only Democrats, but also Republicans in the House of Representatives.
  Nonetheless, these same conferees found a way to retain a legislative 
provision in the bill that benefitted a few companies in the nuclear 
industry. Chairman Bliley and I along with Representative Tauzin, 
Bilirakis, and Oxley sent a letter to the Speaker objecting to the 
inclusion of this and other provisions relating to reauthorization of 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the conference report. 
Currently, there are not one, but two bills pending before the House 
that would address this issue, and our letter indicated our support for 
having the House consider immediately NRC reauthorization under regular 
order. There was no reason to avoid regular order and there is no 
excuse for retaining a provision that benefits one special interest 
while dropping provisions like the petroleum reserve authorization 
which benefits the whole nation.
  Finally, I would like to point to three provisions in this bill that 
amend the Department of Energy Organization Act, a statute primarily 
within the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee, in order to make 
changes relating to the Nuclear National Security Administration 
(NNSA). These three provisions were also included in the Senate's 
version of the Defense Authorization Act and were part of the reason, 
Chairman Bliley, Representative Barton, and I were appointed as 
conferees on that legislation. In good faith we negotiated a compromise 
with our colleagues on both the House and Senate Armed Services 
Committees that saw two of these provisions, relating to ``dual-
hatting'' of DOE employees and the term of the first NNSA 
Administrator, remain in

[[Page E1641]]

the legislation. The third provision, circumscribing the Secretary of 
Energy's longstanding authority to reorganize parts of the Department, 
was dropped by mutual consent. However, this legislation does not honor 
the agreements reached by the committees of jurisdiction: it contains 
all three of the provisions that were the subject of the Defense bill 
negotiations. If those in charge of this institution can neither honor 
agreements in good faith, nor ensure that legislation is considered 
under regular order and rules, then it will be impossible to do the 
work of the American people.
  For all these reasons, I oppose the conference report.

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