[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 131 (Wednesday, September 16, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1047-D1049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page D1047]]




                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 11 public bills, H.R. 3579-
3589; and 1 resolution, H. Con. Res. 186 were introduced.    
  Page H9670
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages H9670-71
Report Filed: A report was filed today as follows:
  H.R. 2423, to designate the Federal building and United States 
courthouse located at 1300 Victoria Street in Laredo, Texas, as the 
``George P. Kazen Federal Building and United States Courthouse'', and 
to designate the jury room in that Federal building and United States 
courthouse as the ``Marcel C. Notzon II Jury Room'', with amendments 
(H. Rept. 111-257).                                          
Page H9670
Speaker: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein she appointed 
Representative Lee (CA) to act as Speaker Pro Tempore for today. 
                                                             Page H9553
Chaplain: The prayer was offered by the Guest Chaplain, Reverend Tri 
Robinson, Vineyard Boise Church, Boise, ID.                  
  Page H9553
Suspension--Proceedings Resumed: The House agreed to suspend the rules 
and agree to the following measure which was debated on Monday, 
September 14th:
  Supporting efforts to reduce infant mortality in the United States: 
H. Res. 260, amended, to support efforts to reduce infant mortality in 
the United States, by a \2/3\ yea-and-nay vote of 415 yeas with none 
voting ``nay'', Roll No. 704.                            
  Pages H9569-70
Advanced Vehicle Technology Act of 2009:
  The House passed H.R. 3246, to provide for a program of research, 
development, demonstration and commercial application in vehicle 
technologies at the Department of Energy, by a yea-and-nay vote of 312 
yeas to 114 nays, Roll No. 709.                          
Pages H9570-91
  Rejected the Broun (GA) motion to recommit the bill to the Committee 
on Science and Technology with instructions to report the same back to 
the House forthwith with an amendment, by a recorded vote of 180 ayes 
to 245 noes, Roll No. 708.                               
Pages H9589-91
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
recommended by the Committee on Science and Technology now printed in 
the bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of 
amendment under the 5-minute rule.                           
Page H9575
Agreed to:
  Gordon (TN) amendment (No. 1 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that (1) 
amends title I to require the Secretary of Energy to report to Congress 
after 18 months, and annually thereafter through 2015, after enactment 
on the technologies developed, the success of the adopted technologies 
for commercial applications, and whether those technologies are 
manufactured in the United States; (2) amends the reporting requirement 
in title II to clarify that the Secretary of Energy must submit the 
report to Congress annually; and (3) expands the nonroad systems 
program from heavy duty nonroad equipment to mobile nonroad equipment; 
                                                         Pages H9577-78
  Broun (GA) amendment (No. 3 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that adds a 
requirement to title I that the Secretary of Energy submit to Congress 
an annual report describing activities undertaken in the previous year, 
active industry participants, efforts to recruit new participants, 
progress of the program in meeting goals and timelines, and a strategic 
plan for funding of activities across agencies;              
Page H9579
  Peters amendment (No. 4 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that includes 
retrofitting advanced vehicle technologies to existing vehicles as an 
area of research under the bill;                         
Pages H9579-80
  Posey amendment (No. 5 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that directs the 
Secretary of Energy to establish within the existing Vehicle 
Technologies Program an Innovative Automotive Demonstration Program to 
make competitively awarded grants for the purpose of demonstrating and 
bringing to market very high energy efficiency vehicles achieving at 
least 70 miles per gallon;                               
Pages H9580-81
  Gordon (TN) amendment (No. 6 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that amends 
industry participation in the vehicle research and development program 
(sec. 101) to include manufacturers of all qualified plug-in electric 
vehicles;                                                
Pages H9581-82
  Gordon (TN) amendment (No. 7 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that 
explicitly includes agricultural and construction equipment in the 
nonroad systems pilot program (sec. 204);                    
Page H9582
  Marshall amendment (No. 8 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that requires 
that research into refueling and recharging infrastructure for 
alternative and hybrid fuel vehicles include the unique challenges 
facing rural areas;                                      
Pages H9582-83
  Cohen amendment (No. 9 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that adds 
hydraulics, flywheels, and compressed air storage as technologies 
eligible for the proposed program;                       
Pages H9583-84
  Altmire amendment (No. 11 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that requires 
the Secretary of Energy to research and develop methods of reducing 
waste and

[[Page D1048]]

emissions from advanced battery technology and to increase advanced 
battery calendar and cycle life;                             
Page H9585
  Donnelly (IN) amendment (No. 10 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that 
includes recreational vehicles as eligible under the Medium and Heavy 
Duty Commercial and Transit Vehicles research and development program 
(sec. 201) (by a recorded vote of 369 ayes to 62 noes, Roll No. 706); 
and                                            
Pages H9584-85, H9587-88
  Massa amendment (No. 12 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that authorizes 
support for public-private partnerships and industry programs that seek 
to overcome barriers to commercial production (by a recorded vote of 
416 ayes to 14 noes, Roll No. 707).               
Pages H9585, H9588-89
Rejected:
  Hall (TX) amendment (No. 2 printed in H. Rept. 111-255) that sought 
to freeze authorization amounts at FY2010 levels through FY2013 and cut 
funding in FY2014 (by a recorded vote of 179 ayes to 253 noes, Roll No. 
705).                                          
Pages H9578-79, H9586-87
  H. Res. 745, the rule providing for consideration of the bill, was 
agreed to by voice vote after it was agreed to order the previous 
question without objection.                              
Pages H9566-68
Suspension: The House agreed to suspend the rules and pass the 
following measure:
  Naming the South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory of the 
Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, and the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 310 North Perry Street in 
Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of former Congressman Wesley ``Wes'' 
Watkins: H.R. 1713, to name the South Central Agricultural Research 
Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture in Lane, Oklahoma, and the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 310 North Perry 
Street in Bennington, Oklahoma, in honor of former Congressman Wesley 
``Wes'' Watkins.                                         
  Pages H9591-94
Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009: The House began 
consideration of H.R. 3221, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
Consideration is expected to resume tomorrow, September 17th. 
                                            Pages H9558-66, H9594-H9637
  Pursuant to the rule, the amendment in the nature of a substitute 
recommended by the Committee on Education and Labor now printed in the 
bill shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of 
amendment under the 5-minute rule.                           
Page H9604
Agreed to:
  George Miller (CA) manager's amendment (No. 1 printed in H. Rept. 
111-256) that makes sundry changes to the bill;          
Pages H9624-30
  Cardoza amendment (No. 3 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that directs 
the Secretary of Education to prioritize community colleges located in 
areas with high unemployment rates when awarding grants for community 
college reform;                                              
Page H9632
  Pingree amendment (No. 5 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that adds to 
the list of reserved funds for distressed areas and areas affected by 
natural disaster direction for the Secretary to reserve funds for local 
educational agencies that serve a geographic area that contains a 
military installation selected for base closure; and     
Pages H9634-35
  Pingree amendment (No. 6 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that removes 
the prohibition of funding to community colleges who received funds for 
construction, modernization, renovation, and repair under the American 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or under the higher education 
act of 1965.                                             
Pages H9635-36
Proceedings Postponed:
  Hoekstra amendment (No. 2 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that seeks to 
strike Title III of the bill, which authorizes $6.6 billion in new 
mandatory spending to create three Federal school construction programs 
for elementary and secondary public schools and institutions of higher 
education, and apply the savings to reduce the Federal deficit; 
                                                         Pages H9630-32
  McMorris Rodgers amendment (No. 4 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that 
seeks to limit the ability of certain schools that received funding 
under the economic stimulus package for school construction from 
receiving additional money through the new Federal school construction 
program authorized under this bill; and                  
Pages H9632-34
  Foxx amendment (No. 7 printed in H. Rept. 111-256) that seeks to 
strike the entire American Graduation Initiative (but maintain the 
privacy provisions that apply to the whole Act) and put the savings 
toward deficit reduction. These privacy provisions ensure that student 
information is protected from individuals not authorized to view it and 
that students cannot be identified by any unique identifier. 
                                                         Pages H9636-37
  H. Res. 746, the rule providing for consideration of the bill, was 
agreed to by a yea-and-nay vote of 241 yeas to 179 nays, Roll No. 703, 
after it was agreed to order the previous question without objection. 
                                                             Page H9569
Quorum Calls--Votes: Three yea-and-nay votes and four recorded votes 
developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H9569, 
H9569-70, H9586-87, H9587-88, H9588-89, H9590-91, H9591. There were no 
quorum calls.

[[Page D1049]]

Adjournment: The House met at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 9:07 p.m.