[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 26 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H1444-H1446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 DIRECTING ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES TO INSTALL A PHOTOVOLTAIC 
    SYSTEM FOR THE HEADQUARTERS BUILDING OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 798) to direct the Administrator of General Services to 
install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of the 
Department of Energy.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 798

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. INSTALLATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM AT DEPARTMENT 
                   OF ENERGY HEADQUARTERS BUILDING.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator of General Services 
     shall install a photovoltaic system, as set forth in the Sun 
     Wall Design Project, for the headquarters building of the 
     Department of Energy located at 1000 Independence Avenue, 
     Southwest, Washington, D.C., commonly known as the Forrestal 
     Building.
       (b) Funding.--There shall be available from the Federal 
     Buildings Fund established by section 592 of title 40, United 
     States Code, $30,000,000 to carry out this section. Such sums 
     shall be derived from the unobligated balance of amounts made 
     available from the Fund for fiscal year 2007, and prior 
     fiscal years, for repairs and alterations and other 
     activities (excluding amounts made available for the energy 
     program). Such sums shall remain available until expended.
       (c) Obligation of Funds.--None of the funds made available 
     pursuant to subsection (b) may be obligated prior to 
     September 30, 2007.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.


                             General Leave

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill, H.R. 798.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Over 30 years ago, Mr. Speaker, as a second-term Member of the House 
and serving on the Public Works Committee, as it was called then, and 
the Subcommittee of Public Buildings and Grounds, I heard an 
extraordinary presentation about the use of photovoltaics in public 
buildings and how, as a result of this study, energy could be saved, 
burning of fossil fuels could be avoided, and the Federal Government 
could save enormous amounts of energy costs by using a then-new 
technology known as photovoltaics.
  I was so enthralled by the idea, I drafted legislation which I shared 
with my then-colleague in the Senate from the State of Minnesota, 
Senator Hubert Humphrey, who introduced the companion bill in the other 
body; and together we got the legislation enacted, signed by President 
Carter, funding for the first 3 years of a 3-year investment by the 
Federal Government in converting Federal civilian office space to 
photovoltaic energy. Unfortunately, President Carter lost the election. 
President Reagan came in and decided that the alternative energy 
program was an unnecessary investment of the Federal Government, and 
the entire alternative energy budget was deleted.
  Years passed. Interest in photovoltaic cells continued. Research and 
development and testing and application in the private marketplace, as 
well as by government agencies, continued and the cost of photovoltaics 
dropped from $1.75 a kilowatt hour in 1977 to about 25 cents a kilowatt 
hour today, compared to 7 cents produced by conventional fossil fuel 
power centers.
  Well, I thought the time was ripe again for us to make another effort 
at having the Federal Government lead the way and being the template, 
being the exemplar in the marketplace for alternative energy use and 
deployment and reducing its cost.
  So the bill that is before us today, it was reported, we had a 
hearing and markup in the subcommittee and markup in the full committee 
to use the Department of Energy headquarters as the exemplary facility 
for the Nation in use of photovoltaics. The Department of Energy 
building, just down the street from the Capitol, on Independence Avenue 
and what is also known as the Forestall Building.
  In 1999, our then-Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, conducted a 
national competition to get the best architectural firms to develop a 
conceptual design for a photovoltaic system

[[Page H1445]]

to be installed on the south wall of the Department of Energy. 
Solarnet, the winning design, will transform that south wall, which was 
deliberately built in a solid face with no windows and no doors. It 
will transform that rather ugly, nondescript wall into this very 
attractive piece that is depicted in the panels before us in the well 
of the House. But that solar wall will generate 460,000 kilowatts of 
energy. It is 300 feet long, 130 feet high, will contain 24,750 square 
feet of power-generating panels.
  The Federal Government is the largest single consumer of energy in 
the country. We are in a unique position to show the rest of the Nation 
how to conserve energy, how to be efficient in doing it, and to do so 
with our trust of management of Federal civilian office space.
  The Department of Energy estimated in 2005 that the cost of energy 
consumption of all forms by Federal agencies was $14.5 billion; $5.5 
billion of that was spent on buildings and facilities, meaning 
electricity.
  GSA, General Services Administration, manages 387.7 million square 
feet of non-military, non-postal civilian office space. It ought to set 
the stage, it ought to set the standard for the Nation in being energy 
efficient and reducing the cost to the taxpayer of operating these 
Federal buildings.
  We ought to, also, change our management of Federal office space both 
in the construction and in the leasing of those office facilities to 
life-cycle cost considerations, not just the lowest initial cost of 
construction; but we are going to be the tenant, we are going to be the 
owner of those facilities, tenant in the leased operations and owner in 
those that are outright owned by the Federal Government for as long as 
we are in there, and we ought to do the best that we can for the 
taxpayer, and we ought to set the stage and help create a marketplace 
for production of photovoltaics that will, in volume production, reduce 
their cost.
  Photovoltaics are very simple devices. The sun strikes a panel that 
has lines of filament that create resistance, transmit that resistance 
across a grid and collectively produce direct current electricity that 
is then converted into alternating current electricity. It can run all 
the lights, the elevators, the escalators, everything, computers, 
everything that uses electricity in the Department of Energy building, 
and have excess power at the end of the day to turn back into the 
Potomac Electric Power Company grid so that the electric meter will run 
backwards at the Department of Energy at the end of the day. That is 
what we ought to be doing. We can do that.
  It is within our authority of this committee to set the stage for 
advances in technology. Already some 25 buildings of the Federal 
Government nationwide use photovoltaics in one way or another. The 
Department of Agriculture does, also just down the street, Independence 
Avenue. The Park Service, the Forest Service, NOAA, on their weather 
buoys, the space program all use photovoltaics to gather information, 
transmit. The Highway Departments, on traffic monitoring signs, use 
photovoltaics, gathering electricity during the day, storing it in 
batteries and run those signs at night off solar power.
  We are only addressing one project today, but that could be multiples 
in the future. And we are here doing what we can within our ability. It 
is not going to solve all of the problems of global climate change, but 
we have an obligation to do our part and to do what we can within this 
committee.
  Toward that end, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) for 
his participation through the subcommittee and then to the full 
committee.
  I thank our full committee ranking member, Mr. Mica, for his support 
and initiative on this matter and moving us to this point where we 
could pass this bill in the House.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate, again, the chairman of our full 
committee, Mr. Oberstar, for not only being the author of this 
legislation, but for bringing it to the floor in such an expeditious 
manner.
  H.R. 798, introduced by Chairman Oberstar, directs the administrator 
of GSA to install a photovoltaic system at the headquarters building 
for the Department of Energy and authorizes appropriations to carry out 
the project. I know, when the chairman speaks of his passion, of what 
he speaks; and I know he has been committed for over 30 years to adding 
a solar energy component to the DOE headquarters building.
  The photovoltaic system authorized by this bill to be installed at 
the Department of Energy building was chosen through a competitive 
process. In 1999 the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable 
Energy Laboratory, in cooperation with the American Institute of 
Architects and the Architectural Engineering Institute, sponsored a 
design competition to select the winning sun wall design for the south 
wall of the new headquarters for the Department of Energy. The winning 
design, called the Solarnet, was selected from 151 entries. The winning 
design, as the chairman has mentioned, is 300 feet long, 130 feet high 
and incorporates 24,750 square feet of power generating panels. The DOE 
building was designed and constructed to include a solar energy system 
on the south wall, which was never constructed. Currently, the south 
wall is just a big expanse of concrete. H.R. 798 will complete what was 
left unfinished.
  This project was previously authorized in the 109th Congress. Similar 
language directing the administrator of GSA to install a photovoltaic 
system for the headquarters building was incorporated into the energy 
policy act of 2005.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the first things you learn as a new Member of the 
Congress, and I believe the current occupant of the chair is a new 
Member of Congress, is that some of our colleagues know a little bit 
about a lot. Some know a lot about a little.
  When you join the Transportation Committee, what you know about our 
chairman is he knows a lot about a lot. And it is not a surprise, nor 
is it ever a surprise when I go to a markup or a hearing and hear 
Chairman Oberstar talk about the history of steel or the history of 
transportation, or the transcontinental railroad. One of my favorites 
is always his focusing on 1956 and the opening of the Wellend Canal and 
what that meant to those of us in the Great Lakes.
  But what I didn't know until I had the pleasure of chairing this 
subcommittee two or three Congresses ago was that he was such an expert 
on photovoltaic electricity. And one of the most pleasant hearings that 
I can recall having in that subcommittee was a hearing on this subject 
matter and listening to the gentleman from Minnesota expound on his 30-
year quest.
  And what I came away with from that hearing, and again being the 
beneficiary of his great knowledge, was the fact that if we had made 
the investment that the gentleman is talking about in this bill today 
30 years ago, we would be talking about comparable rates of electricity 
generation. We wouldn't be talking about 25 cents a kilowatt hour. 
Perhaps we would be down in the 3 to 7 cent range, and the opportunity 
that has been wasted by not, in fact, making that investment back when 
the gentleman first came forward with Senator Humphrey to make this a 
reality.
  And so I hope that this becomes the first of many pieces of 
legislation that the gentleman offers. And I will tell him that I will 
be supportive, not only of his present endeavor, but his future 
endeavors as well.
  Again, I congratulate the gentleman for his 30-year pursuit of this 
goal, and I urge all of our colleagues to be supportive.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
  I am very deeply touched by the gentleman's comments, Mr. Speaker. 
And I thank the gentleman for his thoughtfulness and for his very much 
appreciated comments about my service on the committee and my work over 
the many years.
  I do recall the hearing that the gentleman chaired. He opened the 
hearing to the subject of photovoltaics. I remember that the gentleman 
did an enormous amount of homework, and he came to the hearing and 
surprised me

[[Page H1446]]

with a recitation of the evolution of photovoltaic cells and the 
different types of materials that go into the production of 
photovoltaic cells and their application in a wide diversity of uses.
  The gentleman deserves enormous credit in his own right for his 
studious and thoughtful leadership on the committee and the several 
responsibilities that he has held, economic development and railroads 
and in the public buildings and grounds arena.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, before yielding to our next speaker, I 
just yield myself such time as I might consume. And I would just tell 
the chairman of the committee that I learned 12 years ago that if I was 
going to be in the same room with the gentleman, I had to do my 
homework, and so it was something that I knew I had to do.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such time as he might consume 
to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman).
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Chairman Oberstar for 
bringing this legislation through committee and to the floor in a very 
expeditious way.
  I rise today in support of the commonsense piece of legislation which 
I hope will serve as an example of working hard and smart toward energy 
independence in America.
  I have long been a proponent of this kind of affordable alternative 
lighting method, and energy production method, and have voted before 
for increases in using solar panels which produce no air pollution or a 
single ounce of hazardous waste.
  As the leader in securing our energy independence and promoting safe 
and effective energy alternatives, I fully support the Department of 
Energy's retrofitting of solar panels to reduce energy consumption and, 
in fact, retrofitting in other areas, Federal buildings with more such 
that we can get more efficient energy technology in place. I am 
confident that through the Department of Energy's leadership in 
utilizing this lighting technology, the United States, as a whole, can 
make significant progress towards greater energy efficiency and 
independence.
  All of us in this room have said our Nation needs to be more energy 
independent.

                              {time}  1630

  There is no magic wand which will make it so. It takes many steps to 
get to the end of the path we are traveling, and it will take many 
people to make this goal a reality.
  Today we have the opportunity to take another step down that path. I 
urge my colleagues to give us the means to take this step by passing 
H.R. 798.
  I also want to commend Chairman Oberstar. Many years ago there was a 
country western song by Barbara Mandrell that said she was country 
before country was cool, through her song, and I would say that you are 
very much a proponent of this legislation, a proponent of these things 
when it wasn't cool. And as Mr. LaTourette said, perhaps if we had done 
some of those things many years ago, as you were insisting then, we 
would be in much better shape from an energy standpoint in our Nation 
today.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Again I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his thoughtfulness. And 
I recall our very pleasant visit to his district on transportation and 
economic development issues many years ago when we saw so much of the 
progress that has been done through the Economic Development 
Administration, the need for highway investments, for which the 
gentleman has been a strong advocate. And I also remember a very 
special feeling, the presentation by the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce 
of a unique award: a noose. I don't know what happened to it. I never 
did take possession of it to bring back with me, but someday I will 
make a return visit to Fort Smith. There is a long story we need not 
describe in this setting about Fort Smith and its role in the early 
days of territories and frontiers.
  The sun wall design, as these posters describe it, will be a very 
attractive facility aesthetically but attractive energywise and more 
than a statement, a demonstration by the Federal Government, the 
leadership role that it can play and it should play in moving the 
Nation toward energy independence.
  The Department of Energy conducted an analysis some time ago of the 
potential for photovoltaics and demonstrated that in a 100-mile by 100-
mile square area of the Arizona desert, all the energy needs of the 
United States could be produced by photovoltaics. Well, we are making a 
start on that commitment with this legislation, moving in the right 
direction. It is long overdue, but we are making that step in the right 
direction.
  I thank my colleagues on the committee, Chairman Mica for his 
willingness to move ahead with this legislation; and the gentleman from 
Ohio for his thoughtful and studious advocacy of the legislation; and 
Ms. Norton, the Chair of our Public Buildings and Economic Development 
Subcommittee, for their participation in bringing the bill to this 
point.
  If there are no further speakers, if the gentleman yields back, we 
will yield back our time.
  Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, if I could just yield myself a moment to 
close before yielding back my time.
  When the chairman was talking about Arkansas, I too had the pleasure 
of being in Arkansas, I think, before Mr. Boozman was elected to the 
Congress, when one of the Hutchinsons was in that seat, and I had the 
pleasure of meeting John Paul Hammerschmidt, whom I know that the 
gentleman knows and was fond of working with for so many years. Just to 
show how we all come from different places, I noticed that all the 
wildlife in Arkansas was nervous when we were down there, particularly 
the raccoons. And another one of our colleagues, Marion Berry, was with 
us on that trip for the opening of a new airport, and he indicated that 
his largest fundraiser was a raccoon roast. And I had not experienced 
that until he I had gone down to the gentleman's district as well.
  I urge passage of the bill, and I thank the gentleman very much.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I hope no raccoons will be caught in the 
energy wall because that is the sort of place that raccoons like to 
frequent.
  Again, I thank my colleagues for their participation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 798.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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