[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H6389-H6411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012
Mr. DREIER, from the Committee on Rules, submitted a privileged
report (Rept. No. 112-215) on the resolution (H. Res. 412) providing
for consideration of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2608) to
provide for an additional temporary extension of programs under the
Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and
for other purposes, which was referred to the House Calendar and
ordered to be printed.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 412 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 412
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R.
2608) to provide for an additional temporary extension of
programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, with the
Senate amendment thereto, and to consider in the House,
without intervention of any point of order, a motion offered
by the chair of the Committee on Appropriations or his
designee that the House concur in the Senate amendment with
the amendment printed in part A of the report of the
Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution modified by
the amendment printed in part B of such report. The Senate
amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. The
motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and
controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Appropriations. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption without
intervening motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to my very good
[[Page H6390]]
friend from Rochester, New York, the distinguished ranking minority
member of the Committee on Rules, Ms. Slaughter, pending which I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
All time that I will be yielding and that my friend from Rochester
will be yielding will be for debate purposes only.
(Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
General Leave
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, we have gone through what James Madison, the
author of the Constitution, has described as an ugly, messy, difficult
process. That's the legislative process. And while many of us have been
frustrated, it does work at the end of the day.
Mr. Speaker, it has to work. It has to work because our fellow
Americans are suffering at this moment.
I have just been talking to staff members of the House Appropriations
Committee, and we have to get the resources to those people who are
suffering ASAP. As of this morning, there was a grand total of $212
million in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's fund to deal with
these disasters that have taken place. Last spring, the Secretary of
Homeland Security, Ms. Napolitano, testified that we needed additional
resources.
Now, Mr. Speaker, let's go back to last spring and realize that was
before we had hurricanes. It was before we had floods. It was before we
had tornadoes that hit the Midwest. Think of those poor people in
Joplin, Missouri, all those homes and lives that were lost. And it was
before we had this earthquake that, as we all know, damaged the
Washington Monument right down the street from where we are.
Mr. Speaker, it's very important that we get those resources there,
with only $212 million as of this morning. With expenditures somewhere
in the neighborhood of 30-plus million dollars each day, it means as
early as Monday of next week we could end up with nothing, nothing for
those people who are suffering.
Mr. Speaker, we don't want the government to shut down. We want to
make sure that the people who are truly in need are able to have the
resources necessary. But at the same time, we recognize that we have a
$14.5 trillion national debt. We have massive deficits that are before
us, and we need to do everything that we can to do what people across
this country are saying needs to be done--we need to create jobs. We
need to generate an increase in our gross domestic product growth, and
the measure that is going to be before us when we report out this rule
will do just that.
Mr. Speaker, the measure that we will consider is identical to the
measure that we considered in the House yesterday, the measure that had
been reported out, basically the same package that we had last week.
But a bipartisan request that was made by the Senate majority leader,
Mr. Reid, and the Senate minority leader, Mr. McConnell, was that we
have this provision considered as a Senate amendment so that the Senate
would be able to move as quickly as possible to ensure that our fellow
Americans have the resources that are necessary. And so that's why we
have ended up with the same measure that we had yesterday.
But, Mr. Speaker, as you and I have discussed in the meeting that we
were just in, there has been a change. There is a very minor change. It
is one single paragraph. So of the continuing resolution that we had,
which is $1.043 trillion, exactly what we had yesterday, no change, in
full compliance with the 3-day layover requirement that exists in the
House rules--and I will remind my colleagues the measure that's before
us was put online on Monday, 4 days ago, so, again, in full compliance
with time to spare to meet the 3-day layover, with one amendment. The
amendment reads as follows:
``At the end of the matter proposed to be inserted by the House
amendment, before the short title, insert the following:
``Section 142. Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, of
the unobligated balances remaining available for `Department of
Energy--Energy Programs--Title 17--Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee
Program' pursuant to title IV of division A of Public Law 111-5,
$100,000,000 is rescinded.''
That is the only change that has been made. Let me tell you why that
change was made, Mr. Speaker, and I don't often read The Washington
Post on the House floor, but today's Washington Post has an article
that explains what it is that led us to call for using the $100 million
that I just mentioned as an offset.
I recognize, as one of my colleagues in the Rules Committee stated
earlier, we know that this company known as Solyndra, which Democrats
and Republicans alike recognize has been an abject failure for this
energy program, is one that will not get resources because they have
gone bankrupt.
But let me just tell you what led to us focusing on this $100
million, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that we never again have another
boondoggle like Solyndra. This is, again, today's Washington Post, in
an article entitled, ``Solyndra's Ex-Employees Tell of High Spending,
Factory Woes.'' It reads as follows:
``Former employees of Solyndra, the shuttered solar company that
exhausted half a billion dollars of taxpayer money, said they saw
questionable spending by management almost as soon as a Federal agency
approved a $535 million government-backed loan for the start-up.
``A new factory built with public money boasted a gleaming conference
room with glass walls that, with the flip of a switch, turned a smoky
gray to conceal the room's occupants. Hastily purchased state-of-the-
art equipment ended up being sold for pennies on the dollar, still in
its plastic wrap, employees said.
{time} 2150
``As the $344 million factory went up just down the road from the
company's leased plant in Fremont, California, workers watched as
pallets of unsold solar panels stacked up in storage. Many wondered:
Was the factory needed?
`` `After we got the loan guarantee, they were just spending money
left and right,' said former Solyndra engineer Lindsey Eastburn.
`Because we were doing well, nobody cared. Because of that infusion of
money, it made people sloppy.' ''
Now, Mr. Speaker, we all know that our fellow Americans are suffering
across this country because of the tremendous very, very sad disasters
that we have faced over the last weeks and months, and it is very
important for us to recognize that every taxpayer dollar is precious,
especially in these times when there are people losing jobs, losing
their homes, and losing their businesses.
This is a very sad and tragic example of the kind of waste that is
there, and that is why the one very small but important modification to
the measure that is before us will be to take $100 million and use that
additionally as an offset to ensure that the hard-earned dollars of the
American people are not wasted in the way that we have seen.
So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and with
that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I thank my colleague for yielding me the customary 30
minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, my speech today will be very much like my speech
yesterday, but then so is the bill. Yesterday the House on both sides
of the aisle defeated the majority's first attempt to pass a continuing
resolution. And here we are 24 hours later with the very same bill. Let
me repeat, the bill we're debating today is barely changed from the one
that was defeated yesterday. The bill still contains unacceptable cuts
to an essential manufacturing jobs program to pay for equally essential
disaster relief.
Homes have been destroyed. Roads have collapsed, and local economies
have been disrupted by a seemingly endless stream of hurricanes,
tornadoes, tropical storms, and extreme weather that has crisscrossed
our land. Our moral compass makes it very clear. We know what we need
to do. We
[[Page H6391]]
must come to the aid of our fellow Americans who need our help. The
problems they are facing are monumental, and quite simply, no one can
recover from such natural disasters on their own. They need our help.
Yet the majority's efforts to hold disaster relief hostage to
unacceptable cuts is as unwise today as it was 24 hours ago.
As I said yesterday, when it comes to spending billions of dollars on
two wars that are bankrupting us, the majority's concern for spending
is nowhere to be found. Since 2004, American taxpayers have spent over
$3.4 billion as emergency spending on infrastructure in Afghanistan,
and even more in Iraq. Not a single one of these $3.4 billion was
offset, but were paid for by the same taxpayers that are being denied
taxpayer money now. While we send billions of dollars to Iraq, the
Iraqi government has begun building. They announced today a high-speed
rail system to connect Basra to Baghdad. That's the same week that the
majority in this House took all of the high-speed rail away from the
United States. And so we will be paying for 280 miles in Iraq, but we
can't pay for it from Buffalo to Albany.
When it comes to Americans in need, when it comes to helping women,
children, and families whose homes have been washed away, the majority
has decided they just can't help unless they get to take the money from
a program that has created 39,000 jobs and is poised to create 60,000
more.
The bill was wrong yesterday, and it's wrong today.
Let me just give you some information from, I believe, The New York
Times. The headline says, ``Republicans Sought Clean-Energy Money for
Home States.'' Senator McConnell asked for $235 million for an electric
vehicle plant in Kentucky; Representative Lamar Smith asked for
stimulus money for a solar plant in Texas; Congressman Fred Upton
wanted five clean energy projects in Michigan; Representative Cliff
Stearns asked for a lithium ion battery manufacturing plant in Florida.
These requests for funding came from the very same program that has
been discussed being cut these last 2 days.
I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand by
your beliefs. If you thought the bill was wrong yesterday, there is no
reason to think the bill is better today; virtually nothing has
changed.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and this flawed bill.
[From the New York Times, Sept. 19, 2011]
Republicans Sought Clean-Energy Money for Home States
(By Eric Lipton)
Washington.--On the Senate floor and the television
airwaves, Senator Mitch McConnell has lambasted the Obama
administration over what he has described as its failed
efforts to stimulate new jobs through clean-energy projects
backed with billions of dollars in federal loans or other
assistance.
But Mr. McConnell, of Kentucky, is one of several prominent
Republicans who have worked to steer federal money to clean-
energy projects in their home states, Energy Department
documents show.
Mr. McConnell made two personal appeals in 2009, asking
Energy Secretary Steven Chu to approve as much as $235
million in federal loans for a plant to build electric
vehicles in Franklin, Ky.
``I hope you will realize the importance of such job
creation to Kentucky,'' Mr. McConnell said in a July 2009
memo supporting an application from Zap Motor Manufacturing.
Federal lobbying disclosure records show that Mr.
McConnell's support for the project came after Zap Motor
hired a Kentucky-based lobbyist, Robert Babbage, who has been
a frequent contributor to Mr. McConnell's campaigns and
boasts on his own Internet site about his close ties to Mr.
McConnell.
Mr. Babbage declined to comment on the project. Gary Dodd,
chief executive of Zap Motor, said the intervention by Mr.
McConnell came after the company asked him to push the Energy
Department to approve the loan.
Mr. McConnell's office, in a statement, defended his
actions, saying, ``There was no effort to push the
administration to short-circuit its due diligence simply to
plan a ribbon-cutting.''
Mr. McConnell's high-level advocacy took place despite
early struggles for the project, including the financial
collapse in 2008 of its first Kentucky business partner,
Integrity Manufacturing. Mr. McConnell made no mention of
these stumbles as he pushed for federal money, simply saying
Zap Motor might create as many as 4,000 jobs in his state.
Recently, he has joined with other Republicans in
criticizing a March 2009 decision by the Obama administration
to provide a $535 million government-backed loan to a
California solar-panel manufacturer, Solyndra, which recently
filed for bankruptcy and is now the subject of inquiries by
the F.B.I. and Congress.
``The White House fast-tracked a half-billion-dollar loan
to a politically connected energy firm,'' Mr. McConnell said
Thursday in remarks on the Senate floor. ``This place was
supposed to be the poster child of how the original stimulus
would create jobs.''
Another Republican, Representative Lamar Smith of Texas,
recently asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to appoint
an outside investigator to determine how the Department of
Energy distributes clean-energy money. But in 2009, Mr. Smith
wrote to Mr. Chu asking him to approve loan guarantees from
stimulus money for a Texas project proposed by Tessera Solar,
documents show.
Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan and
another critic of the Energy Department program, signed
letters along with other members of the Michigan delegation
in 2009 and 2010, pushing at least five clean-energy projects
in his state, including a $207 million loan request from
EcoMotors International. And Representative Cliff Stearns,
Republican of Florida, praised the opening last year of a
lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in his state, which
relied upon an Energy Department grant.
Mr. Smith, along with the others, defended their actions,
saying lawmakers can be critical of the Energy Department
programs while still seeking money.
``I wanted to support Texas companies in their applications
for grants,'' Mr. Smith said in a statement. ``It is the
responsibility of the Obama administration to carry out the
necessary financial reviews of these proposals.''
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume
to simply say when Ms. Pelosi was Speaker of the House of
Representatives, my friend from Rochester chaired the Rules Committee.
The disaster relief provided in the response to Hurricane Katrina was
partially offset. This is not in any way unprecedented. It's the right
thing to do.
I urge my colleagues to support the rule, and with that, I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts
(Mr. McGovern), a member of the Committee on Rules.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this House is badly broken. This
Republican leadership is out of touch. This process is a disgrace. This
is not the way the people's business is supposed to work. We are now
debating a continuing resolution that has the same objectionable
provisions that were rejected yesterday on a bipartisan basis. Plus it
has additional provisions that cut jobs. It's even worse.
So here's the deal: what's objectionable to people like me is my
Republican friends continue to insist on cutting programs that will
result in the elimination of American jobs. Their view is simple. If
you want to help victims of tornadoes and hurricanes, then we have to
pay for it, and we pay for it, in their view, by cutting jobs--not tax
cuts for millionaires; not subsidies for Big Oil; not cutting
incentives that encourage sending American jobs overseas. What they're
advocating is cutting American jobs.
Mr. Speaker, the Republican leadership, in my opinion, doesn't have a
clue. They are obsessed with cutting government at all costs, including
programs that help sustain American jobs, including programs that help
prevent the elimination of American jobs. And here's the deal. The
issue is jobs. They may not want to hear it, but the central issue
before our country is jobs. I don't care where you go in this country,
what people want to talk about is jobs and the creation of jobs as a
way to secure our economy. What we should be talking about on the House
floor tonight is jobs. What we should be talking about on the House
floor tomorrow is jobs. What we should be talking about every day until
the American people are back to work is jobs.
Instead, under this Republican leadership, we're debating trivial
issues passionately and important ones not at all. I urge my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle to, at a minimum, allow Democrats to
bring up the President's jobs bill so we can put people back to work.
The best way to reduce the debt in this country is to put people back
to work. Even a slight drop in the unemployment rate in this country
would result in an incredible reduction in our debt.
So I urge my colleagues to reject this continuing resolution because
it is
[[Page H6392]]
about eliminating jobs. It's not about creating more jobs; it's about
eliminating jobs. Reject this continuing resolution because it plays
politics with the lives of American citizens who have been victimized
by natural disasters.
I urge the Republican leadership to, at least in this one instance,
try to be bipartisan. We talk about an open House. We talk about
bipartisanship. Here's an opportunity for us to be bipartisan. Let's
work together on behalf of the American people. Let's get this bill
right, and let's focus on jobs. That's what the American people want.
This bill falls far short of that.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to
tell my friend from Worcester that clearly jobs is the priority that we
are focused on. I appreciate very much and would like to associate
myself with his remarks when he talked about the need for us to focus
on job creation and economic growth. And I know I'm speaking for
everyone, everyone on our side of the aisle, when we say we want to
work in a bipartisan way to ensure that we can get our economy growing
and so that the American people who are hurting will be able to have
job opportunities.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 2200
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the distinguished ranking member of the
Committee on Natural Resources. This combines a speech he would have
made yesterday with one he's going to do this evening.
Mr. MARKEY. I thank the gentlelady.
Write today's date down, September 22, 2011. The Republicans are now
in open warfare against clean energy. Yesterday was an opening salvo,
but today is the declaration of war. They've already gutted clean
energy research and development budgets by 40 percent for next year.
Their budget for the next 3 years promises to cut those investments by
90 percent. They've zeroed out loan guarantee programs for all
renewable energy in their budget while leaving intact $25 billion for
the nuclear industry. They're prepared to shut down the government
rather than rescind one penny of the oil and gas industry's $41 billion
in tax subsidies. But clean energy sector gets the hammer.
Yesterday, in a gratuitous assist to Big Oil, Republicans tried to
kill the Clean Car Factory Fund in order to pay for natural disaster
relief. This is the program that is helping American companies
manufacture superefficient vehicles that reduce our dangerous
dependence on foreign oil from OPEC. But, apparently, that bill wasn't
radical enough for the Tea Party base. So tonight, they come back and
they're launching their full-frontal assault on clean energy.
Yesterday, it was just clean cars. Today, it's solar energy, wind
energy and all renewables. Tonight, they take out the full assault
attack.
But a word of warning. Up to a dozen projects are prepared to receive
the green light in the next week. Swooping in and destroying this
program now will destroy these projects and destroy the thousands of
jobs that will come with them. So before you vote for this bill, check
and see if your State is one of the 38 that has received support under
this program. Check and see if your State is one of the 12 that could
have a new project announced next week. Make sure that the 66,000
people that have jobs today as a result of this program are not from
your State. By the way, those 66,000 jobs created through this program
are far more than any jobs created through legislation passed out in
the first 9 months that the Republicans have controlled the United
States House of Representatives.
So our planet is warming and extreme weather is increasing; 100-year
floods and droughts are now striking every few years. Hurricanes have
caused floods, massive power outages, and deaths. Texas has been on
fire after having the hottest summer ever recorded. The President has
issued disaster relief declarations in 48 States so far this year.
Eighty-three major disasters declared in 2011, the all-time record; 3
more months to go this year. Wake up. Wake up. You can't kill these
programs. This is the solution you are killing.
Republicans say, fine, we'll provide emergency relief for those who
have been afflicted by nature's wrath in an ever-warming planet, but we
won't do it unless we can cut the funds for the programs that promise
to be the solution to the problem. That's what they're proposing here
tonight.
Does the majority ask if we can save money by cutting the hundreds of
billions of dollars we are planning on spending, the Republicans are
planning on spending on new nuclear weapons being constructed over the
next 10 years when we don't need any more nuclear weapons? No. Can we
cut the tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies we pay to Big
Oil and King Coal? Of course not. But wind, solar, clean cars, all-
electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, oh, yeah, let's cut that program
tonight to fund disaster relief for people in this country suffering
from weather, from floods, from hurricanes, and from tornadoes caused
by an ever-changing climate.
This bill is an embarrassment. This is not worthy of this Congress.
Vote ``no'' on this latest Republican assault plan to kill the clean
energy industry in this country on behalf of the Big Oil and Big Coal
industries.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume
to say to my friend that there have been 1,100 jobs lost at Solyndra.
We want to make sure that there is never again, never again another
Solyndra. That's the reason that we have focused on the $100 million as
an offset in this measure, Mr. Speaker.
I think it's also very important to note this morning when I woke up
I heard the news that General Motors is now in the midst of an
international partnership in the People's Republic of China to deal
with the development of electric vehicles. These are the kinds of
things that the private marketplace is pursuing. I live in Los Angeles,
California, where we have very serious air quality problems, and we
just got the news today that Washington, D.C. is number six in the
Nation when it comes to air quality problems. We want to make sure that
we have energy-efficient automobiles. We are determined to do that. We
need to make sure, we need to make sure that those companies that are
out there pursuing these kinds of alternatives that, frankly, in most
all cases are free, are free of government grants, are able to succeed
with that; and that's why we have proceeded with that.
If my friend would like me to yield, I'm happy to yield to him.
Mr. MARKEY. I thank the gentleman. I'm glad you brought out the
General Motors deal because the General Motors deal is only possible
because of the grants and the loans that have been given for the
batteries and for the new technologies under these programs that are
now making it possible for General Motors to reinvent.
Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, Mr. Speaker, let me say to my
friend that obviously we have seen the General Motors deal proceed. The
fact of the matter is it's not solely because of that that we are
seeing this kind of partnership. But, Mr. Speaker, we are seeing the
private sector proceed with a policy that I believe very strongly in,
and that policy is being pro-environment and is, in fact, pro-business.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am going to yield myself 1 minute to
respond to the General Motors-China issue.
Earlier this week, The New York Times had a wonderful article in the
business section that the Chinese were subsidizing electric cars to the
tune of $19,000 which all of us know is against every trade law the
world has ever seen. But they were going to sell the Volt, and GM
announced--they actually told them that in order to sell the Volt at
all in China they had to give over all of their technology and all the
information they had on how to build that car. I thought they weren't
going to do it, but I also read yesterday that now they've got a brand-
new Chinese partner, and they're giving them all the technology. I've
got some legislation to bring into that, Mr. Speaker. I think it's
outrageous that that's what's happening to American manufacturers.
I would like to now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan
who
[[Page H6393]]
knows a thing about General Motors, the distinguished ranking member of
the Committee on Ways and Means, Mr. Levin.
(Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. LEVIN. Well, here we go again. You tried to cut jobs last night.
You lost. Now, you're trying it again. When Americans need jobs, the
Republicans are pushing an anti-jobs bill. Here's what the NAM said
about this program that you want to curtail: ``The ATVM program is an
example of what government-industry partnerships can accomplish. It has
helped create and preserve thousands of auto sector jobs. The NAM
believes defunding ATVM will hurt manufacturers and their employees.''
So you listen to nobody except your empty rhetoric and, I think,
dangerous action. If that wasn't enough, here's what the Chamber of
Commerce said: ``The ATVM program promotes manufacturing in the U.S.
and is an important component of America's energy security.''
{time} 2210
So yesterday, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, we sent
him a letter citing his reference to the ATVM loan program as a
``government subsidy for failing industries.'' GM failing? Chrysler
failing? Ford failing? How misguided.
Well, now you're on your rampage to kill jobs and you've proposed to
cut another program, section 1705, the loan program to help investments
in new energy technology. This is a dangerous precedent. It's also,
let's be frank, a dangerous smokescreen so some Republicans can change
their votes. That's what this is all about.
Well, you don't want to listen to Warren Buffett on taxes, and now
you're thumbing your vote at Bill Gates. They issued a report
yesterday--Bill Gates and a number of other technology leaders--and I
quote from the report about energy programs like what you're trying to
cut:
``If the U.S. fails to invent new technologies and create new markets
and new jobs that will drive the transformation and revitalization of
the $5 trillion global energy industry, we will have lost an
opportunity to lead in what is arguably the largest and most pervasive
technology sector in the world. However, if the U.S. successfully
innovates in clean energy, our country stands to reap enormous
benefits.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
Mr. LEVIN. It goes on:
``Unfortunately, the country has yet to embark on a clean energy
innovation program commensurate with the scale of national priorities
that are at stake. In fact''--and I interpolate here this is what
you're doing--``rather than improve the country's energy innovation
program and invest in strategic national interests, the current
political environment is creating strong pressure to pull back from
such efforts.''
That's exactly what you're doing today. This bill is dangerous
mindlessness.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume
to simply remind my colleagues why it is that we're here.
We're faced with the prospect of a government shutdown. There was a
grand total as of this morning of $212 million in the fund to deal with
our fellow Americans who are suffering because of disasters that we've
gone through over the past several weeks and months, and we want to
make sure that the appropriations process, which has been dumped on us,
is able to be addressed in a bipartisan way. I want Democrats and
Republicans alike to come together to address this.
The $100 million additional offset, the only minor modification that
has been made, is to ensure that we don't have--and I know Democrats
and Republicans alike agree on this--we don't want to have another
Solyndra. And that's what we believe we can do.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews).
(Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. ANDREWS. I thank my friend for yielding.
Tomorrow will be yet another Friday without a paycheck for too many
Americans. For many Americans, this may be the week that their
unemployment benefits finally run out and they have no income left
whatsoever. For many Americans, this might be the last weekend they
spend in their home because the eviction notice or the foreclosure
process comes due next week. There has been a natural disaster this
summer in America, but there has been an economic disaster in America
for a very long time.
Fifteen days ago, the President of the United States came to this
Chamber and in good faith laid out a plan to put Americans back to
work. In those 15 days, this majority has had no hearings, no
discussions, and no votes on the President's plan to put the country
back to work. Until today, it was accurate to say they had done nothing
about the job situation in America. Today, they've done something. They
put forward a bill that destroys a program that has created 39,000 jobs
in the private sector.
My friend from California talked about the new deal that GM may
strike to build the new generation of cars in China. With all due
respect, that's the point. The purpose of this program is to make sure
that the next generation of cars is built by Americans and sold to
Chinese, not built by Chinese and sold to Americans. So if we let this
bill pass, we are waving the white flag of surrender on the next
generation of vehicles.
Now, they say, well, we have to do this because we have to provide
disaster relief. I think there is unanimity in this Chamber that the
victims of floods and hurricanes and other crises deserve help, but the
artificial excuse that's being used here is, well, we have to pay for
the help.
I have a suggestion. We're going to spend in the next 10 days in Iraq
and Afghanistan what it would cost to deal with this disaster relief.
How about that? Instead of crushing American jobs here at home, why
don't we do the intelligent thing and say to the Iraqis and the
Afghans, it's time they ran their own country with their own money. How
about that for an offset? We should never have to choose between
employing our neighbors and ignoring our needs.
The right vote here is ``no.'' Let's bring back to the floor tomorrow
a plan that both sides can support that keeps Americans working, puts
Americans back to work, and solves this disaster problem. Vote ``no,''
and then let's fix the problem.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume
to simply say that job creation and economic growth is what we are all
about. The deal about which my friend just referred is one which is
part of the global marketplace. The goal of having U.S. manufacturers,
U.S. workers manufacturing automobiles for sale in China and vice versa
is our priority.
With that, I would like to yield 2 minutes to my friend from
Lawrenceville, Georgia (Mr. Woodall).
Mr. WOODALL. I thank my chairman for yielding and I appreciate the
time because, as we talk about the President's jobs bill, I was here,
too, when the President came to present his ideas, and it kind of
excited me. Because, as I looked at where the President began on some
of these jobs issues and I looked at what has been proposed in this
House already on these jobs issues, I realized exactly how much
progress we were able to make.
I think about the President's proposal to eliminate oil company
subsidies, a proposal that I support. In fact, I have a bill that not
just eliminates oil company subsidies, but all industrial subsidies so
that we can let the free market drive that train and create those jobs
anew.
I think about the President's proposal to curtail the payroll tax and
I think, we already have a proposal that not only curtails the payroll
tax to the small degree the President recommends, but actually, since
it's the largest tax that 80 percent of American taxpayers pay,
eliminate it entirely.
Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. WOODALL. I'm limited to only 2 minutes. If my friend from New
York would like to yield me time, I would be happy to yield that back.
[[Page H6394]]
But I just want to say, as my friend from the Ways and Means
Committee knows, not only do we have that proposal introduced here--
it's H.R. 25, the Fair Tax. We've had hearings on it in the Ways and
Means Committee. So I say to my friend from New Jersey, we are moving
forward on those agendas.
But let me just talk about why we're here tonight.
Mr. ANDREWS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. WOODALL. If I could get some time from my friend from New York, I
would love to yield to agree with you. I wanted to tell you how much I
believe we're headed on the same track.
But let me talk about this continuing resolution because that's
really why we're here, despite the fact that folks bring up where we
are in the President's jobs bill. This is about getting disaster relief
to families that need it. And we could have gotten it done yesterday--
and should have gotten it done yesterday. And even though I'm new at
this process, I actually thought we had an agreement to get it done
yesterday. I thought we had an agreement because it was the right thing
to do to get it done yesterday. Now, only folks who are more privy than
I know why that agreement came unglued and why it was we didn't get it
done, but we're back here tonight and we have that opportunity. Please,
please, let's get it done for those folks who need it. The time for
games has long since passed.
{time} 2220
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Before I yield to my friend from New Jersey, let me
respond to my friend from Georgia. Don't forget that 48 on your side
voted against it. I don't know what agreement you had with them.
I now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Andrews).
Mr. ANDREWS. I did want to ask my friend from Georgia a question, Mr.
Speaker, if I might. He says he's on the right track.
Will the gentleman agree that we should have an up/down vote on the
President's jobs plan on this floor?
Mr. WOODALL. I actually don't like those kind of long, complicated
bills, I would say to my friend. But should we vote on his ideas, one
idea at a time--I say that regularly. Had we voted on the President's
health care bill one idea at a time, America would have loved 80
percent of it.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, is that a yes or a no?
Mr. WOODALL. That's a let's vote on it one idea at a time, not just
his ideas, but all of our ideas.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, will the gentleman vote for the
President's tax cuts for small businesses that create jobs if they hire
someone?
Mr. WOODALL. The tax proposal I'm familiar with is his $1.5 trillion
tax increase. Is there a different----
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, the President's plan was a small
business that creates jobs will get a tax cut.
Will you vote for that?
Mr. WOODALL. If he wants to reduce the highest corporate tax rate in
the world, I am a huge supporter of that.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, is that a yes or a no on that idea?
Mr. WOODALL. I will vote for any reduction in corporate rates that
the President proposes.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, does the gentleman favor the
provision that says we should put teachers who have been laid off back
in the classroom?
Mr. WOODALL. I absolutely do, and with State and local funds we're
doing that today. I hope we'll continue to do that.
Mr. ANDREWS. Reclaiming my time, would the gentleman agree, though,
we should use some Federal funds for that purpose?
Mr. WOODALL. I do not believe the Federal Government should be
involved in education.
Mr. ANDREWS. I disagree.
Mr. WOODALL. I thank my friend for yielding.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close on our side. If my
friend is prepared to close, then we can close the debate here and move
to a vote on the rule, and then move directly to consideration of the
appropriations bill, so that the American people will be closer to
getting resources they desperately need.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I am expecting another speaker who is not yet on the
floor.
My speaker has arrived, Mr. Crowley of New York, and I will yield him
3 minutes.
Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. I'm not
opposed to keeping our government up and running. In fact, I want
desperately to support a bill as simple as keeping the Federal
Government up and running.
What I'm imposed to is, I believe, ugly, out-right partisan politics,
especially at a time when Americans want to work constructively
together to address the serious problems that we're all facing. But
bipartisanship is not at work here tonight, and it has not been here
for some time.
Since President Obama announced the American Jobs Act, my colleagues
on the other side have held zero hearings, not a single hearing on that
plan.
Since Solyndra announced it was going out of business, the majority
has held three hearings, and there are more scheduled to come. Let's be
clear. We should get all the answers, every answer about Solyndra's
failings. But I'm sorry. That is not a comprehensive agenda that will
produce one single job.
Time is ticking because, while we stand here tonight quibbling about
how to pay for the day-to-day functions of government, and how best to
assist American communities hurting after hurricanes, flooding,
droughts, and wildfires, Europe and China are working overtime to
outcompete us on every front.
President Obama and the Democratic Party have a plan for keeping the
U.S. competitive on the global stage. We have a plan for keeping
American businesses, workers, and industries stronger and better than
our foreign competitors.
It's Democrats who got engaged and saved GM and Chrysler. It's
Democrats who created the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing
loan program, a program that has created almost 40,000 auto
manufacturing jobs in less than 2 years. And it's Democrats who have
led the way on green energy.
By contrast, the GOP agenda can be summed up in one word:
``roadblock.'' Not road building, roadblock.
Republicans aren't focused on producing jobs. They oppose trying to
put Detroit back on its feet. They are opposed to bringing President
Obama's bills to the floor. And in the very bill we are debating right
now, they are making cuts to the very manufacturing program I just
cited as a job creator.
My colleagues, there are Americans across the country who are
hurting. They've lost jobs, been foreclosed upon, and have endured
extreme natural disasters of all kinds. They cannot accept a Congress
that isn't willing to put them first. They cannot accept a Congress
that insists upon offsets for aid to rebuild America, but not for aid
to rebuild schools, hospitals, and roads in Iraq and Afghanistan. They
cannot accept a Congress that holds more hearings on the failure of one
company, but not one hearing on a job plan for America. I'm sorry, but
this is not acceptable.
Vote ``no'' on this bill and reject the GOP's roadblock agenda.
Mr. DREIER. I am prepared to close the debate on our side.
I reserve the balance of my time for that purpose.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from
Ohio (Ms. Kaptur).
Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the ranking member, Ms. Slaughter of New York,
for granting me this time to say, at first, I really didn't believe it
when someone suggested to me that the Republican Party would really
like to defeat President Obama by raising the unemployment rate. I
thought, that's too cynical to really believe.
But in this particular proposal tonight, what we see is a proposal by
the Republican Party to take money from the Advanced Technology Vehicle
Manufacturing program to help America compete in the auto industry with
state-managed economies like China's and Japan's, and take it away from
recovering auto firms and unemployed auto workers to give to disaster
victims around this country.
It's a no-win game. We're hurting the American people. We take from
one sector that is suffering for another sector that is suffering? In
the greatest
[[Page H6395]]
automotive manufacturing country in the world, we don't want to put
more people back to work because we want to defeat the President next
year?
I'm starting to believe those that suggested this cynical ploy. Why
should we hurt the automotive industry that is just beginning to hire
back and starting to lift this economy in the industrial Midwest and
through hiring at parts suppliers coast to coast?
Vote ``no'' on this cynical ploy to set disaster victims against
unemployed auto workers in the automotive industry of this country,
which has a right to compete. If you want to offset $1.5 billion in
costs of disaster assistance, take it from the bonuses Wall Street
titans keep pocketing. For them, it's only pocket change.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the
gentlewoman from California, our Democrat leader, Ms. Pelosi.
Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I commend her
for her enormous leadership, patience, and great intellect that she
brings to bear on these issues.
Mr. Speaker, listening to the debate, it's really almost hard to
explain to someone why we're coming back tonight with the same old,
same old warmed-over stew that was rejected yesterday by the Congress
of the United States. But since then we've had some support expressed
for the initiative that is contained in this bill and against the
notion that our Republican colleagues have that it's a good idea to use
this as a pay-for.
I take particular pride in this provision that the Republicans are
trying to zero out in this bill, the Advanced Technology Vehicle
Manufacturing program.
You will recall, Mr. Dreier, that it was part of a bill that was
passed when President Bush was President. It was the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007. It was a bill that passed the
Congress with strong bipartisan support, including your support, Mr.
Dreier. In fact, 95 Republicans voted for the bill. It was an even
split in the Republican Caucus, 95 for, 96 against. But you recall
voting for that.
Mr. DREIER. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. PELOSI. No, I'm sorry, because you have a half an hour and I
don't.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I've been mentioned three times, and since
the gentlewoman has mentioned me--
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California controls the
time.
Ms. PELOSI. The gentleman has all the time. For some reason the
Republicans are not showing their faces on the floor on this amendment.
He has plenty of time on this bill, plenty of time to speak. If he
didn't, I'd be more than happy to yield to him, but since he has so
much time on his own, he can use that.
In any event, here's the thing. We have an initiative that is
bipartisan. We have an initiative that has passed the House in
overwhelming numbers, 314-100; 314-100 it passed the House after coming
back from the Senate.
Yesterday, there was an attempt made to use the funds allocated to
the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program to offset the
disaster assistance. I myself believe it is a matter of principle that
we should just do with disaster assistance what we always have done,
have no doubt in anyone's mind that when a disaster, a natural disaster
strikes, the Federal Government will be there, FEMA will be funded, and
that we don't have to look around for a place to say, let's prioritize.
No, the disaster assistance is our priority.
{time} 2230
But on top of that, they use as a pay-for, again, zeroing out the
Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing. I don't want you to take my
words for the merit of this initiative. I want to quote for the record
the letter from the United States of America Chamber of Commerce and
the letter from the National Association of Manufacturers.
First from the Chamber of Commerce:
``As Congress sets spending priorities, the Chamber wishes to
highlight a few important facts about the Advanced Technology Vehicle
Manufacturing loan program. First, the program was authorized in the
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was supported by
both Republicans and Democrats as an important step in reducing
America's dependence on oil from unstable regimes. Second, ATVM loans,
which will be repaid with interest, incentivize automakers and
suppliers to build more fuel-efficient advanced technology vehicles in
the U.S., providing new opportunities for American workers in a sector
of the economy that is critical to the Nation's recovery.''
Then they go on to say that this is funded by the Department of
Education, and that it's not the fault of industry if these funds have
not been used.
In the NAM letter, National Association of Manufacturers, they say
similarly:
``We express our support for the Advanced Technology Vehicle
Manufacturing (ATVM) program, authorized under the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007 with bipartisan support and signed into law by
President Bush.''
It was a very proud day for us when President Bush signed this bill.
It made tremendous advances in energy efficiency and conservation. It
was a great accomplishment of the Bush administration and a Democratic
Congress working together, but the bill passed in strong bipartisan
fashion.
``The ATVM program is an example of what government/industry
partnerships can accomplish. It has helped create and preserve
thousands of auto sector jobs and put our Nation on a path towards
greater energy security. The NAM believes defunding ATVM will hurt
manufacturers and their employees.''
I will submit the rest of the letters for the Record so Members can
read further for themselves in the Congressional Record; and for all
who view the work of Congress, they can see the importance of these
initiatives, first by the strong bipartisan support that they received
in a Democratically controlled Congress but signed by a Republican
President, President Bush, a very major accomplishment, I think he
believes.
The second point, though, is that, again, American people are looking
for ways for us to create jobs. The Republicans have been in power in
this Congress in this House of Representatives for over 250 days. They
have not passed one bill into law which is a job creator; and today,
they come back to the floor a second day in a row with a job destroyer.
The repetition of it is almost frivolous when you think that what we
could be talking about here is a clean CR, a clean continuing
resolution that will meet our needs to November 18.
I thank Chairman Dicks for his leadership on this important issue,
Mr. Levin, certainly Mr. Dingell, who was a champion of this initiative
from day one and a leader in the fight to preserve it here.
It could just have been so simple. Let's just keep government open
until November 18 with a clean continuing resolution instead of coming
to the floor and for the first time.
Now my colleagues will say, Well, we've had other emergencies that
were funded. I'm not talking about emergencies. There are many
emergencies. I'm talking about disasters. I'm talking about natural
disasters when people's homes are swept away. This isn't political.
This is very, very personal, if you've lost your home, your belongings,
your livelihood, your business, your sense of community, the character
of the area in which you live, as many of our colleagues on both sides
of the aisle have done. When you see the nature of the natural
disasters, whether it's out-of-control forest fires in Texas, what
happened in Joplin, Missouri, which is almost biblical in its
proportion, and what happened on the east coast with the earthquake
followed by hurricane followed by tornado followed by floods and all
that goes with it.
Do you think people think that we have any relevance to their lives
if we're talking about something like this when all they are saying is,
Help. It's as if a building is on fire and you're going to figure out
who is going to pay for the water instead of just running to the
rescue.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this and urge my Republican
colleagues to please pull this back, bring a clean CR to the floor.
Let's get serious about the people's business.
[[Page H6396]]
Chamber of Congress
of the United States of America,
Washington, DC, September 22, 2011.
To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: The
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business
federation representing the interests of more than three
million businesses and organizations of every size, sector,
and region, strongly supports disaster relief funding to
assist victims of natural disasters. The Chamber is also a
vocal proponent of fiscal responsibility and recognizes that
Congress must make difficult but necessary choices among
competing priorities.
As Congress sets spending priorities, the Chamber wishes to
highlight a few important facts about the Advanced Technology
Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program. First, the program
was authorized in the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007, which was supported by both Republicans and Democrats
as an important step in reducing America's dependence on oil
from unstable regimes. Second, ATVM loans, which will be
repaid with interest, incentivize automakers and suppliers to
build more fuel-efficient advanced technology vehicles in the
U.S., providing new opportunities for American workers in a
sector of the economy that is critical to the nation's
recovery. Third, the fact that the Department of Energy has
yet to use the funds Congress appropriated for the program is
not the fault of industry; numerous loan applicants have been
in the queue for years, waiting for the Administration to
complete its due diligence.
Again, while the Chamber understands the importance of
reducing America's unacceptable debt and believes that all
programs must be on the table, the Chamber urges you to bear
in mind the facts about the ATVM loan program, which promotes
manufacturing in the U.S. and is an important component of
America's energy security.
Sincerely,
R. Bruce Josten.
____
National Association
of Manufacturers,
September 22, 2011.
Hon. Harry Reid,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Leaders Reid and McConnell: The NAM is the largest
trade association in the United States, representing over
11,000 small, medium and large manufacturers in all 50
states. We are the leading voice for the manufacturing
economy, which provides millions of high-wage jobs in the
U.S. Two-thirds of our members are small businesses, which
serve as the engine for job growth. Our mission is to enhance
the competitiveness of manufacturers and improve American
living standards by shaping a legislative and regulatory
environment conducive to U.S. economic growth.
The NAM is writing to express our support for the Advanced
Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, authorized
under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 with
bipartisan support and signed into law by President Bush. The
ATVM program is an example of what government/industry
partnerships can accomplish. It has helped create and
preserve thousands of auto sector jobs and put our nation on
a path towards greater energy security. The NAM believes
defunding ATVM will hurt manufacturers and their employees.
Introducing any new model motor vehicle is a capital
intensive process. Automobile manufacturers and suppliers
must make large investments at the front end before a vehicle
enters production. The ATVM 'program assists this process by
providing low cost capital for retooling U.S. facilities.
These loans, which will be repaid with interest, allow
automakers to build more fuel-efficient advance technology
vehicles in the U.S. and provide greater job security for the
workers they employ. Furthermore, it is worth noting that
many suppliers to the automobile manufacturers are small and
medium manufacturers. These smaller manufacturers have the
potential to create thousands of jobs but are typically some
of the first businesses impacted by a struggling economy. By
maintaining the ATVM program the government will also be
supporting the maintenance and growth of these smaller
manufacturers.
During this time of economic recovery, we urge you to
preserve this successful program that is helping preserve
auto sector jobs and promote energy security.
Sincerely,
Paul A. Yost.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I'll be happy to yield to my distinguished California colleague at
any moment as I make a couple of remarks here as she walks off the
floor.
I asked her to yield, Mr. Speaker, because she three times referenced
me as it relates to the vehicle program, the Advanced Technology
Vehicle Manufacturers program. Let me just explain what we're faced
with today, Mr. Speaker.
What we're faced with is the challenge of ensuring that we get the
resources necessary to the American people who are suffering because of
these disasters. Now, when my California colleague was Speaker of the
House, we had disasters that took place like Hurricane Katrina. Much of
that was offset. And so to act as if this is unprecedented is not a
correct characterization of what has happened, because we have seen
offsets for disasters in the past on numerous occasions over the last
decade in excess of $59 billion in offsets that provided for
supplemental appropriations that have been out there.
As it relates to the Advanced Technology Vehicle program, I was going
to say to my California colleague who is no longer on the floor, and
I'd like to yield to her if she would like to come back to respond to
this, there is a total of $4 billion that is there. What we're doing is
utilizing $1.5 billion. So as people say that this program is being
completely eliminated, that is not a correct characterization of what
has happened.
Let me tell you what it is we're doing, Mr. Speaker.
We're doing everything that we can to find every dollar that we
possibly can to ensure that our fellow Americans who are suffering due
to these disasters are able to have the resources that are necessary.
Of the $1.5 billion which is utilized in the offset, it's been sitting
in the coffers for 3 years. So to act as if we somehow are going to see
some great loss of jobs is again a mischaracterization of what is
happening.
We're establishing priorities. We have a priority, that being dealing
with our fellow Americans in Joplin, Missouri, who suffered from that
horrible tornado that hit that area. That's my home State of Missouri.
I know how devastating. In listening to our colleague, Mr. Long, it's
very clear to see in his eyes the kind of effort that he's put in to
deal with the rebuilding there. That is a priority.
Dealing with the photographs that we saw from Mr. Welch's district
who voted for this bill yesterday and I suspect will vote for it again
this evening to ensure that those who suffered from flooding in Vermont
have that. And as I said earlier in the day, our new colleague, Tom
Marino from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, who just in the past several
days was trudging through the mud as he reported to my colleagues in
our meeting downstairs talking to the parents of children who were
literally sitting on the hoods of their automobiles because their homes
had been devastated. And the question asked by that parent to
Congressman Marino was, What is it you are going to do? And he said
that he was going to come to Washington and do everything that he
possibly can, everything that he would be able to do to ensure that
they have the resources they need.
Now, to argue that this is pitting a fund that has been sitting
dormant for 3 years and is not in the pipeline versus utilization of
those resources for the American people who are suffering is a very
inappropriate thing to do.
So that was the discussion that I was looking forward to having with
my California colleague as she talked about my support of the Advanced
Technology Vehicle program.
Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DREIER. Of course. I'm always happy to yield to my good friend
from Detroit.
{time} 2240
Mr. LEVIN. Look, no one is saying the total program would be
obliterated.
Mr. DREIER. If I could reclaim my time, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman
just said no one is saying that. I'm sure that my friend was not here
through the entire debate.
Mr. LEVIN. I was.
Mr. DREIER. I don't know that my friend was listening through the
entire debate.
Mr. LEVIN. I was.
Mr. DREIER. May I finish, Mr. Speaker?
What I want to say is that we were told that we on our side of the
aisle are declaring war--declaring war--by the statement made by our
friends from Massachusetts, and from that, one would have to infer that
we were trying to obliterate a program.
When we, Mr. Speaker, have 3 years of those dollars sitting dormant,
not being expended and not in the pipeline, we believe that we can
utilize those dollars for the American people who
[[Page H6397]]
are truly in need. We need to move ahead with that as expeditiously as
possible, and I think we should try to do that right now and get to the
appropriations bill.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentlelady from New York yield me 30 seconds?
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I'm sorry, Mr. Levin. I don't have any more time.
Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close.
Mr. LEVIN. How much time is there on both sides, please?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from California has 10\1/2\
minutes, and the gentlewoman from New York has 3\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. LEVIN. Will the gentleman from California yield to me?
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, let me yield myself 1 minute, and I will
yield to my friend from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. No one has said that the program will be eliminated. What
we have said is what the Manufacturers Association has said. It
believes defunding ATVM will hurt manufacturers and their employees.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I reclaim my time.
We've had this read to us three times.
Mr. LEVIN. You don't want to hear the facts.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I've heard it three times read on the House
floor. We heard the debate earlier today. It was read by our
colleagues, Mr. Speaker. I've heard this three times on the House
floor.
What I want to say is that we've had, for 3 years, the dollars that
we're utilizing for the offset sitting dormant.
Mr. LEVIN. It is not true.
Mr. DREIER. It is true, and it is not in the pipeline to be expended,
Mr. Speaker. So, for that reason, I believe the people of Joplin,
Missouri, can better utilize dollars that have been sitting for 3 years
for absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question at the
end of the debate, I will offer an amendment to the rule to ensure that
disaster victims get the help that they need. My amendment will allow
Representative Dingell to offer a motion to strike the unacceptable
House language and to substitute the bipartisan Senate approach.
I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell).
(Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. DINGELL. Here we are again.
Yesterday, the House rebuked the Republicans because they came
forward with almost as bad a bill as this. They were going to destroy,
as they are tonight, the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing
program. It's one of the most successful programs we've had. It has
made 40,000 jobs for Americans. At a time when Americans are losing
their homes, losing their jobs, running out of unemployment
compensation, they want to hear us say what we're doing about jobs,
what we're doing about opportunity, what we're doing about making the
economy grow.
So the Republicans, when they got their heads handed to them
yesterday, went back to caucus and made the bill a little bit worse so
that they could appeal to their right-wing extremes. The result is that
you've got a bill here that has been brought to us that nobody has had
an opportunity to see and a bill on which we haven't got any idea
exactly what it does.
We hear our good friend from California tell us how the private
system of government is working. He says it's working in China because
the Chinese have forced GM to work with them to manufacture cars over
there so that they can sell them over here. We say that we ought to be
manufacturing those cars over here with American workers to sell over
there in China and in other countries that are playing the same game
with us.
This is an enormously successful program. They're submitting their
successes of yesterday by trying now to cut other programs which do
this.
They talk about Solyndra. Solyndra went broke for a very simple
reason. I sat in on the hearings when I don't think many of the other
Members on this side did. I heard that the reason they went under was
the trade practices of the Chinese. That's why. They're underselling
them in an intolerable way in spite of the fact that we've tried to
bring that technology over here and to make it work for the American
people in order to provide jobs for the American people.
My Republican colleagues are making a war between the American
workers and American industry on the one side and those who have need
of relief from the disasters. That's not good. It should not be. It is
quite sufficient that we help both. There is no need to have an offset
for a disaster, and time after time we have not done it. But not so the
Republicans. They are out to kill Department of Energy loan programs.
These are programs that create jobs.
Take a look in your district, if they'll give you a copy of this
bill, and ask yourself and ask them and ask of the legislation: What
are they cutting that is in your district or your State that's going to
make jobs and opportunity for your people? You're going to find, when
this legislation passes--God forbid it will do so--that you have cut
the opportunities and the well-being of your American people who
desperately look to us to make the economy go again. You are burning
here tonight the seed corn of the American people. You are taking and
striking a major blow against the economy and the well-being of this
Nation. I say, Shame.
Reject the rule.
Reject the previous question.
Reject the proposal.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from New York has 30 seconds
remaining.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the
text of the amendment in the Record along with extraneous material
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Ms. SLAUGHTER. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and defeat the
previous question, I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule and the underlying
amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
simply say to my colleagues that we're here for a very important
reason. The reason is that we want to make sure that we don't face a
government shutdown. We want to make sure that we do everything we
possibly can so that the people in this country who have suffered from
disasters over the past several weeks and months are able to have the
resources that they need to do that, and we want to make sure, Mr.
Speaker, that we do it in a fiscally responsible way so that we can do
what every American and every Democrat and Republican in this House
says needs to be done so that we can get our economy growing and put
into place pro-growth, job creation proposals. I believe that we can do
that. I think we can do it responsibly.
I will say that this is the identical package that we had last night,
with one modification; and that one modification is to ensure, with all
due respect to my friend, the distinguished dean of this House, that we
don't have another Solyndra. Regardless of what some have said was the
cause of their demise, when we have employees of that company coming
forward and making the case that they were spending money left and
right, that they were using it on some of the most outrageous things
imaginable, and that the employees could not understand why they built
a factory when they had all of these resources in reserve, this cannot
be allowed. It's not a responsible expenditure of U.S. taxpayer
dollars, Mr. Speaker, and that's the reason we believe this $100
million can be used for the people who are truly in need.
The material previously referred to by Ms. Slaughter is as follows:
An amendment to H. Res. 412 offered by Ms. Slaughter of New York
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
sections:
Sec. 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
resolution, after expiration of debate on the motion to
concur specified in the first section of this resolution it
shall be in order to consider the motion to amend printed in
section 3 of this resolution. That motion may be offered only
by Representative Dingell of Michigan or his designee, shall
be
[[Page H6398]]
debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by
the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to
amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division
of the question. All points of order against that motion are
waived.
Sec. 3. The motion to amend referred to in section 2 is as
follows:
``(1) Strike sections 125 and 126 of the House amendment
(and redesignate the subsequent sections accordingly).
``(2) At the end of the House amendment, before the short
title, insert the following:
``Sec. __ . Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, there is hereby enacted into law the provisions of
division B of the amendment adopted by the Senate on
September 15, 2011, to House Joint Resolution 66 (112th
Congress), relating to emergency supplemental disaster relief
appropriations.''.
(The information contained herein was provided by the
Republican Minority on multiple occasions throughout the
110th and 111th Congresses.)
THE VOTE ON THE PREVIOUS QUESTION: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the opposition, at least for the moment, to offer an
alternative plan. It is a vote about what the House should be
debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
Because the vote today may look bad for the Republican
majority they will say ``the vote on the previous question is
simply a vote on whether to proceed to an immediate vote on
adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no substantive
legislative or policy implications whatsoever.'' But that is
not what they have always said. Listen to the Republican
Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in the United
States House of Representatives, (6th edition, page 135).
Here's how the Republicans describe the previous question
vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally not
possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee on
Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. DREIER. I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of adoption.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 235,
nays 177, not voting 21, as follows:
[Roll No. 725]
YEAS--235
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Amash
Amodei
Austria
Bachus
Barletta
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Rehberg
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NAYS--177
Ackerman
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hochul
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
Kissell
Kucinich
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Olver
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Ross (AR)
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--21
Bachmann
Bishop (GA)
Butterfield
Calvert
Carson (IN)
Deutch
Garamendi
Giffords
Gohmert
[[Page H6399]]
Guinta
Langevin
Lujan
Paul
Rangel
Reichert
Schock
Shuler
Speier
Stark
Waxman
Welch
{time} 2312
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California changed his vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
So the previous question was ordered.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 238,
nays 176, not voting 19, as follows:
[Roll No. 726]
YEAS--238
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Amash
Amodei
Austria
Bachus
Barletta
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Rehberg
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NAYS--176
Ackerman
Andrews
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hochul
Holden
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
Kissell
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lynch
Maloney
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Ross (AR)
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--19
Bachmann
Bilbray
Bishop (GA)
Butterfield
Carson (IN)
Deutch
Garamendi
Giffords
Hirono
Lujan
Olver
Paul
Rangel
Reichert
Shuler
Speier
Stark
Waxman
Welch
{time} 2319
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Stated for:
Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 726, had I been present, I
would have voted ``yes.''
General Leave
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. 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 H.R. 2608.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the resolution just
adopted, I call up the bill (H.R. 2608) to provide for an additional
temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the
Small Business Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, with the
Senate amendment thereto, and have a motion at the desk.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the Senate
amendment.
The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
Senate amendment:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Small Business Program
Extension and Reform Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF
PROGRAMS UNDER THE SMALL BUSINESS ACT AND THE
SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT ACT OF 1958.
(a) In General.--Section 1 of the Act entitled ``An Act to
extend temporarily certain authorities of the Small Business
Administration'', approved October 10, 2006 (Public Law 109-
316; 120 Stat. 1742), as most recently amended by section 2
of the Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act of
2011 (Public Law 112-17; 125 Stat. 221), is amended by
striking ``July 31, 2011'' each place it appears and
inserting ``July 31, 2012''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a)
shall take effect on July 30, 2011.
SEC. 3. REPEALS AND OTHER TERMINATIONS.
(a) General Provisions.--
(1) Effective date.--A repeal or other termination of a
provision of law made by this section shall take effect on
October 1, 2011.
(2) Rule.--Nothing in this section shall affect any grant
or assistance provided, contract or cooperative agreement
entered into, or loan made or guaranteed before October 1,
2011 under a provision of law repealed or otherwise
terminated by this section and any such grant, assistance,
contract, cooperative agreement, or loan shall be subject to
the applicable repealed or otherwise terminated provision, as
in effect on September 30, 2011.
(3) Applicability of temporary extensions.--A repeal or
other termination of a provision of law made by this section
shall have effect notwithstanding any temporary extension of
programs, authority, or provisions under the Act entitled
``An Act to extend temporarily certain authorities of the
Small Business Administration'', approved October 10, 2006
(Public Law 109-316; 120 Stat. 1742).
(4) Deficit reduction.--Any savings resulting from this Act
and the amendments made by this Act shall be returned to the
Treasury for deficit reduction.
(b) Pollution Control Loans.--Paragraph (12) of section
7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``(A) The Administration'' and inserting
``The Administration''; and
[[Page H6400]]
(2) by striking ``research and development'' and all that
follows and inserting ``research and development.''.
(c) Small Business Institute.--Subparagraph (E) of section
8(b)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)) is
repealed.
(d) Drug-Free Workplace Grants.--Paragraph (3) of section
21(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(c)) is
amended--
(1) in subparagraph (R) by adding ``and'' at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (S) by striking ``; and'' and inserting
a period; and
(3) by striking subparagraph (T).
(e) Central European Small Business Enterprise Development
Commission.--Section 25 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.
652) is repealed.
(f) Paul D. Coverdell Drug-Free Workplace Program.--Section
27 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 654) is repealed.
(g) Pilot Technology Access Program.--Section 28 of the
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 655) is repealed.
(h) National Veterans Business Development Corporation.--
(1) In general.--Section 33 of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 657c) is repealed.
(2) Corporation.--Beginning on the date of enactment of
this Act, the National Veterans Business Development
Corporation and any successor thereto may not represent that
the corporation is federally chartered or in any other manner
authorized by the Federal Government.
(i) Lease Guarantees and Pollution Control.--Part A of
title IV of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15
U.S.C. 692 et seq.) is repealed.
(j) Alternative Loss Reserve.--Paragraph (7) of section
508(c) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15
U.S.C. 697e(c)) is repealed.
(k) Small Business Telecommuting Pilot Program.--Subsection
(d) of section 1203 of the Energy Independence and Security
Act of 2007 (15 U.S.C. 657h) is repealed.
(l) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Small business investment act of 1958.--Section 411(i)
of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C.
694b(i)) is amended to read as follows:
``(i) Without limiting the authority conferred upon the
Administrator and the Administration by section 201 of this
Act, the Administrator and the Administration shall have, in
the performance of and with respect to the functions, powers,
and duties conferred by this part, all the authority and be
subject to the same conditions prescribed in section 5(b) of
the Small Business Act with respect to loans, including the
authority to execute subleases, assignments of lease and new
leases with any person, firm, organization, or other entity,
in order to aid in the liquidation of obligations of the
Administration hereunder.''.
(2) Title 10.--Section 1142(b)(13) of title 10, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``and the National
Veterans Business Development Corporation''.
(3) Title 38.--Subsection (h) of section 3452 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended by striking ``any of the'' and
all that follows and inserting ``any small business
development center described in section 21 of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648), insofar as such center offers,
sponsors, or cosponsors an entrepreneurship course, as that
term is defined in section 3675(c)(2).''.
(4) Veterans entrepreneurship and small business
development act of 1999.--Section 203(c)(5) of the Veterans
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999
(15 U.S.C. 657b note) is amended by striking ``In cooperation
with the National Veterans Business Development Corporation,
develop'' and inserting ``Develop''.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective
October 1, 2011, the Administrator of the Small Business
Administration may not carry out or otherwise support the
program referred to as ``Emerging Leaders'' in the document
of the Small Business Administration titled ``FY 2012
Congressional Budget Justification and FY 2010 Annual
Performance Report'' (or any predecessor or successor
document).
Motion to Concur
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will designate the motion.
The text of the motion is as follows:
Mr. Rogers of Kentucky moves that the House concur in the
Senate amendment to H.R. 2608 with an amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the
amendment of the Senate, insert the following:
That the following sums are hereby appropriated, out of any
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and out of
applicable corporate or other revenues, receipts, and funds,
for the several departments, agencies, corporations, and
other organizational units of Government for fiscal year
2012, and for other purposes, namely:
Sec. 101. (a) Such amounts as may be necessary, at a rate
for operations as provided in the applicable appropriations
Acts for fiscal year 2011 and under the authority and
conditions provided in such Acts, for continuing projects or
activities (including the costs of direct loans and loan
guarantees) that are not otherwise specifically provided for
in this Act, that were conducted in fiscal year 2011, and for
which appropriations, funds, or other authority were made
available in the following appropriations Acts:
(1) The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2011
(division A of Public Law 112-10).
(2) The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
(division B of Public Law 112-10).
(b) The rate for operations provided by subsection (a) is
hereby reduced by 1.503 percent.
Sec. 102. (a) No appropriation or funds made available or
authority granted pursuant to section 101 for the Department
of Defense shall be used for (1) the new production of items
not funded for production in fiscal year 2011 or prior years;
(2) the increase in production rates above those sustained
with fiscal year 2011 funds; or (3) the initiation,
resumption, or continuation of any project, activity,
operation, or organization (defined as any project,
subproject, activity, budget activity, program element, and
subprogram within a program element, and for any investment
items defined as a P-1 line item in a budget activity within
an appropriation account and an R-1 line item that includes a
program element and subprogram element within an
appropriation account) for which appropriations, funds, or
other authority were not available during fiscal year 2011.
(b) No appropriation or funds made available or authority
granted pursuant to section 101 for the Department of Defense
shall be used to initiate multi-year procurements utilizing
advance procurement funding for economic order quantity
procurement unless specifically appropriated later.
Sec. 103. Appropriations made by section 101 shall be
available to the extent and in the manner that would be
provided by the pertinent appropriations Act.
Sec. 104. Except as otherwise provided in section 102, no
appropriation or funds made available or authority granted
pursuant to section 101 shall be used to initiate or resume
any project or activity for which appropriations, funds, or
other authority were not available during fiscal year 2011.
Sec. 105. Appropriations made and authority granted
pursuant to this Act shall cover all obligations or
expenditures incurred for any project or activity during the
period for which funds or authority for such project or
activity are available under this Act.
Sec. 106. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or in
the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2012,
appropriations and funds made available and authority granted
pursuant to this Act shall be available until whichever of
the following first occurs: (1) the enactment into law of an
appropriation for any project or activity provided for in
this Act; (2) the enactment into law of the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2012 without any provision
for such project or activity; or (3) November 18, 2011.
Sec. 107. Expenditures made pursuant to this Act shall be
charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or
authorization whenever a bill in which such applicable
appropriation, fund, or authorization is contained is enacted
into law.
Sec. 108. Appropriations made and funds made available by
or authority granted pursuant to this Act may be used without
regard to the time limitations for submission and approval of
apportionments set forth in section 1513 of title 31, United
States Code, but nothing in this Act may be construed to
waive any other provision of law governing the apportionment
of funds.
Sec. 109. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
except section 106, for those programs that would otherwise
have high initial rates of operation or complete distribution
of appropriations at the beginning of fiscal year 2012
because of distributions of funding to States, foreign
countries, grantees, or others, such high initial rates of
operation or complete distribution shall not be made, and no
grants shall be awarded for such programs funded by this Act
that would impinge on final funding prerogatives.
Sec. 110. This Act shall be implemented so that only the
most limited funding action of that permitted in the Act
shall be taken in order to provide for continuation of
projects and activities.
Sec. 111. (a) For entitlements and other mandatory payments
whose budget authority was provided in appropriations Acts
for fiscal year 2011, and for activities under the Food and
Nutrition Act of 2008, activities shall be continued at the
rate to maintain program levels under current law, under the
authority and conditions provided in the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2011, to be continued
through the date specified in section 106(3).
(b) Notwithstanding section 106, obligations for mandatory
payments due on or about the first day of any month that
begins after October 2011 but not later than 30 days after
the date specified in section 106(3) may continue to be made,
and funds shall be available for such payments.
Sec. 112. Amounts made available under section 101 for
civilian personnel compensation and benefits in each
department and agency may be apportioned up to the rate for
operations necessary to avoid furloughs within such
department or agency, consistent with the applicable
appropriations Act for fiscal year 2011, except that such
authority provided under this section shall not be used until
after the department or agency has taken all necessary
actions to reduce or defer non-personnel-related
administrative expenses.
Sec. 113. Funds appropriated by this Act may be obligated
and expended notwithstanding section 10 of Public Law 91-672
(22 U.S.C. 2412), section 15 of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2680), section 313 of the
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and
1995 (22 U.S.C. 6212), and section 504(a)(1) of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 414(a)(1)).
Sec. 114. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), each
amount incorporated by reference in
[[Page H6401]]
this Act that was previously designated as being for
contingency operations directly related to the global war on
terrorism pursuant to section 3(c)(2) of H. Res. 5 (112th
Congress) and as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
403(a) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent
resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010, is designated
by the Congress for Overseas Contingency Operations/Global
War on Terrorism pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985,
except that such amount shall be available only if the
President subsequently so designates such amount and
transmits such designation to the Congress. Section 101(b) of
this Act shall not apply to any amount so designated.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to amounts for
``Department of Justice--Federal Bureau of Investigation--
Salaries and Expenses''.
Sec. 115. During the period covered by this Act,
discretionary amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2012 that
were provided in advance by appropriations Acts shall be
available in the amounts provided in such Acts, reduced by
the percentage in section 101(b).
Sec. 116. Notwithstanding section 101, amounts made
available by this Act for ``Department of Defense--Operation
and Maintenance--Operation and Maintenance, Air Force'' may
be used by the Secretary of Defense for operations and
activities of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq and
security assistance teams, including life support,
transportation and personal security, and facilities
renovation and construction: Provided, That the authority
made by this section shall continue in effect through the
date specified in section 106(3) of this Act: Provided
further, That section 9014 of division A of Public Law 112-10
shall not apply to funds appropriated by this Act.
Sec. 117. Notwithstanding section 101, funds made
available in title IX of division A of Public Law 112-10 for
``Overseas Contingency Operations'' shall be available at a
rate for operations not to exceed the rate permitted by H.R.
2219 (112th Congress) as passed by the House of
Representatives on July 8, 2011.
Sec. 118. The authority provided by section 127b of title
10, United States Code, shall continue in effect through the
date specified in section 106(3) of this Act.
Sec. 119. The authority provided by section 1202 of the
John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2007 (Public Law 109-364; 120 Stat. 2412), as extended
by section 1204(b) of the Duncan Hunter National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417;
122 Stat. 4623), shall continue in effect through the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act.
Sec. 120. Notwithstanding section 101, amounts are
provided for ``Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board--
Salaries and Expenses'' at a rate for operations of
$29,130,000.
Sec. 121. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
except section 106, the District of Columbia may expend local
funds under the heading ``District of Columbia Funds'' for
such programs and activities under title IV of H.R. 2434
(112th Congress), as reported by the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives, at the rate
set forth under ``District of Columbia Funds--Summary of
Expenses'' as included in the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request
Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-92), as modified as of the date of
the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 122. Notwithstanding section 101, amounts are
provided for the necessary expenses of the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board, to carry out its
functions under title XV of division A of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), at
a rate for operations of $28,350,000.
Sec. 123. (a) Section 9(m) of the Small Business Act (15
U.S.C. 638(m)) shall be applied by substituting the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act for ``September 30,
2011''.
(b) Notwithstanding section 9(n)(1)(A) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(n)(1)(A)), the Small Business
Technology Transfer Program shall continue in effect through
the date specified in section 106(3) of this Act.
(c) Notwithstanding section 9(y)(6) of the Small Business
Act (15 U.S.C. 638(y)(6)), the pilot program under section
9(y) of such Act shall continue in effect through the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act.
Sec. 124. Section 8909a(d)(3)(A)(v) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``September 30, 2011''
and inserting the date specified in section 106(3) of this
Act.
Sec. 125. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,
effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, of the
unobligated balances remaining available to the Department of
Energy pursuant to section 129 of the Continuing
Appropriations Resolution, 2009 (division A of Public Law
110-329), $500,000,000 is rescinded, $774,000,000 is hereby
transferred to and merged with ``Department of Homeland
Security--Federal Emergency Management Agency--Disaster
Relief'', and $226,000,000 is hereby transferred to and
merged with ``Corps of Engineers-Civil--Flood Control and
Coastal Emergencies'': Provided, That the amounts made
available by this section for the Corps of Engineers-Civil
shall be for emergency expenses for repair of damage caused
by the storm and flood events occurring in 2011: Provided
further, That the amounts transferred by this section shall
remain available until expended: Provided further, That each
amount transferred by this section is designated as an
emergency pursuant to section 3(c)(1) of H. Res. 5 (112th
Congress) and as an emergency requirement pursuant to section
403(a) of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent
resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
Sec. 126. (a) Notwithstanding section 101, amounts are
provided for ``Department of Homeland Security--Federal
Emergency Management Agency--Disaster Relief'' at a rate for
operations of $2,650,000,000: Provided, That the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall provide a full accounting of disaster
relief funding requirements for such account for fiscal year
2012 not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, and for fiscal year 2013 in conjunction with the
submission of the President's budget request for fiscal year
2013.
(b) The accounting described in subsection (a) for each
fiscal year shall include estimates of the following amounts:
(1) The unobligated balance of funds in such account that
has been (or will be) carried over to such fiscal year from
prior fiscal years.
(2) The unobligated balance of funds in such account that
will be carried over from such fiscal year to the subsequent
fiscal year.
(3) The amount of the rolling average of non-catastrophic
disasters, and the specific data used to calculate such
rolling average, for such fiscal year.
(4) The amount that will be obligated each month for
catastrophic events, delineated by event and State, and the
total remaining funding that will be required after such
fiscal year for each such catastrophic event for each State.
(5) The amount of previously obligated funds that will be
recovered each month of such fiscal year.
(6) The amount that will be required in such fiscal year
for emergencies, as defined in section 102(1) of the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5122(1)).
(7) The amount that will be required in such fiscal year
for major disasters, as defined in section 102(2) of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)).
(8) The amount that will be required in such fiscal year
for fire management assistance grants, as defined in section
420 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5187).
Sec. 127. Any funds made available pursuant to section 101
for the Department of Homeland Security may be obligated at a
rate for operations necessary to sustain essential security
activities, such as: staffing levels of operational
personnel; immigration enforcement and removal functions,
including sustaining not less than necessary detention bed
capacity; and United States Secret Service protective
activities, including protective activities necessary to
secure National Special Security Events. The Secretary of
Homeland Security shall notify the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
on each use of the authority provided in this section.
Sec. 128. The authority provided by section 532 of Public
Law 109-295 shall continue in effect through the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act.
Sec. 129. The authority provided by section 831 of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 391) shall continue
in effect through the date specified in section 106(3) of
this Act.
Sec. 130. Section 550(b) of the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (6 U.S.C. 121 note) shall
be applied by substituting the date specified in section
106(3) of this Act for ``October 4, 2011''.
Sec. 131. Sections 1309(a) and 1319 of the National Flood
Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a) and 4026) shall be
applied by substituting the date specified in section 106(3)
of this Act for ``September 30, 2011''.
Sec. 132. Section 330 of the Department of the Interior
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (42 U.S.C. 1701
note), concerning Service First authorities, shall continue
in effect through the date specified in section 106(3) of
this Act.
Sec. 133. Notwithstanding section 101, section 1807 of
Public Law 112-10 shall be applied by substituting
``$374,743,000'' for ``$363,843,000'' and ``$10,900,000'' for
``$3,000,000''.
Sec. 134. The second proviso of section 1801(a)(3) of
Public Law 112-10 is amended by striking ``appropriation
under this subparagraph'' and inserting ``appropriations made
available by this Act''.
Sec. 135. Notwithstanding section 101, amounts are
provided for ``Federal Mine Safety and Health Review
Commission--Salaries and Expenses'' at a rate for operations
of $14,510,000.
Sec. 136. Sections 399AA(e), 399BB(g), and 399CC(f) of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280i(e), 280i-1(g),
280i-2(f)) shall be applied by substituting the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act for ``September 30,
2011''.
Sec. 137. Notwithstanding section 101, section 2005 of
division B of Public Law 112-10 shall be applied by
substituting ``$0'' for each dollar amount.
Sec. 138. The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C.
635 et seq.) shall be applied by substituting the date
specified in section 106(3) of this Act for ``September 30,
2011'' in section 7 of such Act of 1945.
Sec. 139. Section 209 of the International Religious
Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6436) shall be applied by
substituting the date specified in section 106(3) of this Act
for ``September 30, 2011''.
Sec. 140. Commitments to guarantee loans incurred under
the General and Special Risk Insurance Funds, as authorized
by sections 238 and 519 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. 1715z-3 and 1735c), shall not exceed a rate for
operations of $25,000,000,000: Provided, That total loan
principal, any part of which is to be guaranteed, may be
apportioned through the date specified in section 106(3) of
this Act, at $80,000,000 multiplied by the number of days
covered in this Act.
Sec. 141. (a) Renewal of Import Restrictions Under Burmese
Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.--
(1) In general.--Congress approves the renewal of the
import restrictions contained in
[[Page H6402]]
section 3(a)(1) and section 3A (b)(1) and (c)(1) of the
Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
(2) Rule of construction.--This section shall be deemed to
be a ``renewal resolution'' for purposes of section 9 of the
Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
(b) PAYGO Compliance.--The budgetary effects of this
section, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-
As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to
the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO
Legislation'' for this section, submitted for printing in the
Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget
Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted
prior to the vote on passage.
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on July
26, 2011.
(d) Applicability.--This section shall not be subject to
any other provision of this Act.
Sec. 142. Effective on the date of the enactment of this
Act, of the unobligated balances remaining available for
``Department of Energy--Energy Programs--Title 17-Innovative
Technology Loan Guarantee Program'' pursuant to title IV of
division A of Public Law 111-5, $100,000,000 is rescinded.
This Act may be cited as the ``Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2012''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 412, the motion
shall be debatable for 1 hour, equally divided and controlled by the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations.
The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) and the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Dicks) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to bring to the floor the continuing
appropriations resolution to keep the Federal Government operating
until November 18, 2011. Before you is a slightly amended version of
the bill, which is necessary after last night's vote. I hope that my
colleagues recognize the urgency of this situation and will join me in
taking the responsible step and support this CR.
This bill must pass if we're going to keep our word to the American
people. We need to get help to Americans who need it most, those who
have lost their homes and their businesses to the unforgiving natural
disasters that have beset us.
FEMA is rapidly burning through its emergency funding and its ability
to help those people recover from the tornados, hurricanes,
earthquakes, wildfires and other disasters.
Right now, at this minute, FEMA has $200 million left in the coffer.
They're spending at the rate of $30 million a day for disaster relief.
And at this rate, of course, they will be out of money over the
weekend.
This infusion of funding--$1 billion in emergency fiscal year 2011
disaster funding and $2.65 billion for fiscal 2012--is critical. I
can't stress that enough. And it will go far to relieve the burdens of
those who are in need tonight.
This version of the bill creates an additional offset to the fiscal
year 2011 emergency funding. In addition to the $1.5 billion offset
from the vehicle loan program, we are rescinding $100 million from the
Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, a section of the failed
Stimulus Act that funded the now-bankrupt company Solyndra.
The CR also continues government operations at a rate of $1.043
trillion. That's the amount agreed to by the Congress and the White
House in August as part of the debt ceiling compromise, and it is on
the law books of the country. This reduced responsible rate will help
restore our Nation's fiscal health.
It is vital that Congress pass this legislation as swiftly as
possible. We must prevent a government shutdown, and we have to
replenish exhaustive disaster recovery funds which will dry up over the
weekend. And just as importantly, we need time to complete work on the
fiscal year 2012 appropriations legislation so we can avoid the
uncertainty and instability that we saw last year when it took us until
April to complete full-year appropriations legislation.
I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill, not only to keep the
government running, but also to help the hundreds of thousands of
Americans relying on us to get them back on their feet all across the
country.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DICKS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I know as well as anyone that Members change their
minds. I've heard a lot about that the last couple of days. But here we
are debating essentially the same bill that we voted on yesterday. Many
Republicans who voted ``no'' last night did so because they believed
$1.043 trillion is too much spending. The bill before us tonight spends
$1.043 trillion.
I will be the first to say every Member is entitled to change his or
her mind; however, I am eager to hear my Republican colleagues who
voted ``no'' yesterday answer why it is okay to vote ``yes'' today. And
I hope these Members will not hang their hat on the one fig leaf of
change in the bill. The bill now includes a rescission of $100 million
in emergency funding from section 1705 of the renewables DOE loan
program. A rescission of emergency funds does not score as a reduction
from the $1.043 trillion.
Democrats voted ``no'' for two reasons: we strongly oppose taking
funding from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program.
This is a program that has proven to be a success in creating new jobs,
and such a success that the National Association of Manufacturers and
the Chamber of Commerce of the United States have both called upon the
Congress to not cut out this program because, one, the money is repaid,
and it is creating jobs--something the majority has not done in the
months that they've been in the majority. This is a jobs program.
We strongly oppose the notion that efforts to help Americans rebuild
their lives after floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural
disasters should be put on hold until Congress can agree on offsetting
reductions in spending. We will continue to vote ``no'' because the
bill continues to acquire an offset to provide disaster relief funding,
and that offset is misguided. Republicans take $1.5 billion from the
Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program at the Department of
Energy to pay for $1 billion in disaster relief.
The Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program was started in
2008 to reinvigorate American manufacturing. To date, the program has
awarded $3.5 billion of credit subsidy to promote energy-efficient
advanced vehicles and their component parts. The Department of Energy
estimates the loan guarantees have created or maintained 39,000 jobs in
California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan,
Missouri, and Tennessee.
Some have suggested that this program has been slow to spend
emergency funding provided in the FY 2000 CR. I say the loan process
ought to be strenuous. One company originally applied under a different
loan program in 2006 and received an ATVM loan in 2010. It required 4
years of due diligence and review to qualify for the loan. Republicans
seem to be issuing an ultimatum to all loan programs: expedite the
review process or see your funding transferred away. By the way, the
company in question, Tesla, employed about 400 employees before
receiving the loan. Today, they have 1,400 employees in the field of
engineering research and development, design, manufacturing, assembly,
maintenance, and service, sales and support.
The ATVM program has an additional 18 loan applications in progress
that are projected to create 50,000-60,000 more jobs in California,
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.
One pending application would support investments at 11 plants in
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The company employs over 56,000
workers, having added nearly 9,000 new workers since 2009. Some of
these jobs will be at risk because of this offset.
This is not the time to put American manufacturing jobs at risk.
{time} 2330
That is why the National Association of Manufacturers expressed their
support for the ATVM program in a letter to the Senate dated September
22, noting, ``The ATVM program is an example of what government/
industry partnerships can accomplish. It has helped create and preserve
thousands of auto sector jobs. The NAM believes defunding ATVM will
hurt manufacturers and their employees.'' And the Chamber of Commerce
agrees with them.
Now, I think it's time for us to stay with our position and vote
``no'' and get a clean CR. That's what I asked the committee to do. We
need a clean CR. We don't need this offset.
[[Page H6403]]
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the distinguished chairman of the
Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Mr. WOLF. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 2608, to provide the continuing
resolution for the initial weeks. And I want to be sure that we keep
the government open. And by passing this bill, we will keep the
government open.
This bill is needed to keep vital government services and programs
operating past the end of the fiscal year on September 30. As the
gentleman from Kentucky has stated, the Committee on Appropriations has
made great progress in moving 11 of the 12 annual bills. However,
additional time is needed for the consideration of the other.
This continuing resolution, for anyone who questions it, conforms to
the spending reduction targets that were agreed to by the House, the
Senate, and the White House. It's exactly the same number, and so no
reason to vote against it. Specifically, the bill sets an annual rate
that reduces overall discretionary spending by 1.5 percent from fiscal
year 2011.
In addition, the bill provides disaster funding to provide much-
needed assistance to individuals and communities suffering from
hurricane and flood damage. The State of Virginia has been hit, as many
others.
I urge all my colleagues to vote for this bill. By voting for the
bill, we will keep the government open.
The American people sometimes think this institution and this town is
dysfunctional. We can ensure that we can do our work. Pass this bill.
Mr. DICKS. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Price), the ranking member on the Homeland Security Appropriations
Subcommittee and former chair.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Just
yesterday this continuing resolution failed because of widespread
concerns with the plan to offset disaster relief funding from a key
Department of Energy program. One day later we're having the exact same
debate. The only thing that's changed is that the Republican majority
has decided this time to target two Energy Department programs instead
of one.
When the measure failed yesterday, House Republican leaders faced a
basic decision. They could give up their efforts to hold disaster
funding hostage to another partisan budget battle by removing the
offset and passing the bill with a broad bipartisan majority.
Or they could make the measure even more extreme in order to cater to
the most radical members of their party, without concern for the fact
that FEMA is just days away from running out of money, and communities
around the country are waiting desperately for the support that's been
promised them.
Now, anybody who's been watching this Congress for the last 8 months
should not be the least surprised by the majority's decision. Once
again, Republicans have put partisan ideology ahead of the dire needs
of the American people and are risking yet another destabilizing
standoff over spending cuts in the process.
So now we're debating, under a martial-law rule, a bill that is even
worse than it was yesterday. It still seeks to pay for urgent disaster
relief needs by taking money from a major job-creating program at the
Department of Energy.
As I said in this Chamber yesterday, this is a radical departure from
the way we have treated emergency disaster relief in the past. Over the
past 10 years, Congress has approved 16 supplementals that included
emergency funding for FEMA disaster relief in response to disasters
such as 9/11, Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike, and floods on the
Mississippi, Missouri, and other rivers. None of these emergency
appropriations for the disaster relief fund were paid for with cuts to
other Federal programs.
Yesterday I heard several of my friends on the other side of the
aisle claim that we've offset disaster assistance numerous times over
the past decade. This is simply not accurate. Some of the supplemental
bills that included disaster relief also included offsets, but these
offsets were used to pay for entirely separate programs, never for
FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund.
As I said yesterday, this insistence on offsets is bad precedent, and
it's bad policy. It leaves disaster-affected communities in the lurch
while undermining our economic recovery by cannibalizing an Energy
Department program that stands to add tens of thousands of good-paying
jobs in an industry critical to our future economic competitiveness.
And it goes even further than that by including a gratuitous and
arbitrary rescission to another Department of Energy loan program, a
change aimed at scoring political points against the President and
winning Tea Party votes. But it has very little to do with balancing
the budget or providing relief for those in need.
Moreover, rather than approving a bill that would win passage in the
Senate, we are now sending over a measure that the Senate majority is
on record opposing, causing more economic uncertainty, risking yet
another manufactured crisis.
So, Mr. Speaker, I once again urge colleagues to oppose this measure,
to support the Senate's approach to disaster relief instead, which
would fully fund FEMA's needs without holding them hostage to another
partisan budget battle.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt), chairman of the Homeland
Security Subcommittee on Appropriations.
Mr. ADERHOLT. I thank the distinguished chair for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this must-pass resolution.
This CR not only keeps the government operating, but it provides a
substantial infusion of desperately needed funding totaling $3.65
billion for disaster relief and emergency flood control efforts.
That's funding to sustain disaster relief efforts in hard-hit States
all across this Nation, including the devastation that hit my home
State of Alabama back in April of this year. That's funding to address
the record flooding up and down the Mississippi River and along the
east coast resulting from Hurricane Irene. That's funding to help tens
of thousands of people who have lost virtually everything but the
shirts on their backs.
Mr. Speaker, the time for talk and the time for politicking is over.
It's time to pass this vital resolution, provide our Nation with
necessary disaster relief funding, avert a government shutdown, allow
Congress to scrub the administration's full disaster supplemental
request, provide the needed oversight, and complete the work on the FY
2012 budget.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this vital resolution
and responsibly address our Nation's most pressing needs.
Mr. DICKS. I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the ranking member of the Energy and Water
appropriations subcommittee.
Mr. VISCLOSKY. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in
opposition to the measure.
During the debate on the rule on this measure, Joplin, Missouri was
mentioned quite often. But I would mention that there is an emergency
as far as Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is concerned; Hamburg, Iowa, is
concerned; Cairo, Illinois, is concerned; Springfield, Massachusetts,
certainly; Joplin, Missouri; Smithville, Mississippi; Williston, North
Dakota; States like Vermont.
Subsequent to the rains and floods of this spring, we've had
earthquakes, we've had wildfires, we had hurricanes.
The current need of the Army Corps is about $2.257 billion, so the
first observation I would make is the offsets that are set aside in
this bill are certainly inadequate to cover that amount.
But there is a further emergency in this country, and that is the
fact that, as of August of this year, there were 13,967,000 Americans
who were without work. In the year 2000, 8 percent of the people who
live in the great State of Indiana were living in poverty. Today, 16
percent of the people in the State of Indiana are living in poverty,
and for those we represent who are working today, for 1 hour's worth of
their labor, they're making 53 cents less today in real purchasing
power than they did in 1977.
[[Page H6404]]
{time} 2340
Today, there are 6,643,000 less Americans working in manufacturing
making a living wage than there were in 1977.
So the response is let's take $1.5 billion out of an investment
account where there are still 10 pending applications to try to make
cars in this country more efficiently, more fuel efficient, and more
desirable for consumers.
But earlier tonight we heard, Don't worry; the Chinese are going to
help our car companies with financing. I'm affronted by that
possibility. That's why we need this $1.5 billion so maybe we could
still make cars in the United States of America without the help of the
Chinese Government.
I think this is a wrongheaded approach.
And then let's pile on. There's obviously a controversy about a solar
company in California. I think perhaps it is a matter to be considered
not only by oversight in the United States Congress but the Justice
Department. But that's not a decision for us to make if wrongdoing has
occurred. But you know what? Let's take it out on somebody else. Let's
make sure there is not money available for other legitimate companies
who are trying to increase jobs in this country and who are trying to
reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
That wasn't the response I saw in this body in 2008. We had the major
financial institutions in this country drive our economy into the
ground. Did we ask them to give back their tax advantages? Did we
punish them in any way? We gave them money. We should at least pick on
somebody our own size.
We didn't ask anybody in Iraq or Afghanistan whether or not they
needed an offset for emergency money for schools, for hospitals, for
bridges. The people in Joplin, the people in Vermont, the people in
these other communities, they need our help now. Traditionally, we have
recognized the emergency, we have declared the emergency, and we have
helped them out.
And when Bill Clinton was President of the United States, we declared
emergencies like this on three occasions in 1998, 1999, and 2001, and
we balanced the budget.
I oppose this measure.
Mr. ROGERS. I yield 3 minutes to a brand new Member of this body, Mr.
Speaker, Mr. Marino of Pennsylvania.
Mr. MARINO. My father taught me a long time ago not to make a speech
or give an opinion unless I thought it was important. I think tonight
it's important, and I hope that you also think it's important.
I would never question anyone's motives and ideals. However, we are
here tonight to meet the immediate needs of the people that we
represent.
This vote is not about politics. This vote is not about Republicans
or Democrats. This vote is not about cut or not cut. This vote is about
coming to the aid of the American people whom we represent, the people
who have been devastated by floods. People like friends and neighbors,
seniors and children in the 10th Congressional District of Pennsylvania
and on the east coast. It is heartbreaking and it is heart wrenching.
You must see it firsthand to understand it.
The Federal Government's main purpose is to protect its citizens from
disaster, both from terrorism and from natural disasters.
My staff and I stood in mud, waste, and stagnant water over the last
3 weeks along with families who lost everything: furniture, clothes,
photos, toys stacked outside of their homes that were destroyed or
condemned. If each of you stood where I stood, I know in my heart that
because you are compassionate, this bill would have been passed by now.
I tried to comfort children who were sitting in cars or on car
rooftops and in truck beds because they could not get into their home
that was condemned and filled with the same stagnant mud and water and
waste and snakes that were outside their homes. I talked to grown men
that were crying because their homes were destroyed and asked me, Where
am I going to safely put my family tonight?
A little girl not more than 8 years old asked me where she was going
to sleep because she no longer had her bed and her bedroom in which she
and her sister slept.
Seniors were trapped on the second floor of their home because the
first floor was flooded. Small businesses were completely wiped out.
I plead with you, I implore you, I beg you to pass this flood relief
now for our people who do not have the basic comforts that those of us
here have. The American people are depending on us to give them a hand
up, and they deserve our immediate attention.
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the ranking member of
the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee, Mr. Fattah of
Pennsylvania.
Mr. FATTAH. If we could have a vote to provide disaster relief, every
Member in this Chamber would cast a vote in the affirmative. What we're
asked to make tonight is a Solomon-like choice between tens of
thousands of jobs for Americans who desperately need them and a limited
amount of disaster relief. That is not a fair choice.
And I guess the majority wasn't happy with the polling that showed
that only 12 percent of the public thought that Congress was doing a
good job or 13 percent. We dropped to 12. I guess we're trying to get
into the single digits.
What we need to do is to do our work.
Now, this is a program where Ford Motor Company borrowed a loan
guarantee at 5.9 to put people to work, some 30,000 people to work in
Michigan and Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio. This is a program
that's working, that taxpayers' money is paid back through these loan
guarantees.
The National Association of Manufacturers in today's National Journal
says that we now, as we have, lead the world in manufacturing with 21
percent of globally manufactured products. But China is now in second
place at 15 and Japan has dropped to third at 12. Why would we want to
concede our leadership in this world in manufacturing?
In the Republican decade under the Bush White House we lost 350,000
manufacturing jobs. We saw tens of thousands of small manufacturers
close down in our Nation. Now, this administration, people talk about
the number in August, but let's look at the entire 20 months of the
Obama recovery--2\1/2\ million jobs led by increases consistently in
manufacturing.
I ask that we reject this CR. I hope that the majority would come to
the House with an approach that would actually respond to the disasters
that we face without asking us to put more Americans out of work.
Mr. ROGERS. I yield 3 minutes, Mr. Speaker, to the chairman of the
Financial Services Subcommittee on Appropriations, the gentlelady from
Missouri (Mrs. Emerson).
Mrs. EMERSON. Thank you very much.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution. It is a responsible
measure. It makes good on the promises we must keep to members of our
military, to our veterans, and to Americans who rely upon the essential
functions of the Federal Government.
It cares for the needs of millions of Americans who have suffered
from the effects of dramatic natural disasters, including the folks in
my State of Missouri who live in Joplin, who live along the Mississippi
in my specific district, who live along the Missouri River in the
northern part of our State.
{time} 2350
These folks can't wait another day for help because people are
playing politics with this bill. The House and the Appropriations
Committee are dedicated to a responsible process, and this bill
reflects the amount of time needed to complete that work.
I think we've realized this year on both sides of the aisle that we
have to bring the size and the spending of the Federal Government into
line with reality. In the hearings and markups that we've conducted in
the House and in the negotiations to make specific and significant
spending cuts, not only this year but also in each of the next 10, and
through the budget process, we have laid the groundwork for a new era
of stewardship for our taxpayer dollars.
In addition to our covenant with members of the military, with
veterans, with the families depending on a helping hand up, and for
Americans who are really suffering from true emergencies that have
devastated their homes, like Mr. Marino said--their jobs and their
lives--we do have a responsibility to the American taxpayer and to
future generations who cringe
[[Page H6405]]
at the sight of our debt and our deficits.
Mr. Speaker, this bill allows us to work in good faith, to make good
on both our promises and our responsibilities. I urge my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle to, once again, put politics aside and support
it here tonight.
Mr. DICKS. Would the Speaker tell us how much time both sides have.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Washington has 14\1/2\
minutes left, and the gentleman from Kentucky has 18 minutes left.
Mr. DICKS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Today was a very dramatic day on the stock market. The Dow Jones
dropped 500 points because investors are worried that we're headed into
a second recession; and what we get from the majority party is to cut
out a program that creates jobs. The Advanced Technology Vehicle
Manufacturing program has already created 39,000 jobs. It's going to
create another 39,000 with the $2.5 billion that remains, and the $1.5
billion that we're taking out of there would create another 10,000
jobs. These are jobs. The only way we're going to get unemployment down
is to put people back to work.
And here we are again. After savaging all these other programs--
cutting people out of work in the public sector--now we're going to cut
out automobile jobs. Let me read to you what the National Association
of Manufacturers has to say, which is not an organ of the Democratic
Party:
``The NAM is the largest trade association in the United States,
representing over 11,000 small, medium and large manufacturers in all
50 States. We are the leading voice for the manufacturing economy,
which provides millions of high-wage jobs in the U.S. Two-thirds of our
members are small businesses, which serve as the engine for job growth.
Our mission is to enhance the competitiveness of manufacturers and
improve American living standards by shaping a legislative and
regulatory environment conducive to U.S. economic growth.
``The NAM is writing to express our support for the Advanced
Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program--'' this is the program that
we're taking $1.5 billion out of ``--authorized under the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 with bipartisan support and
signed into law by President Bush. The ATVM program is an example of
what government/industry partnerships can accomplish. It has helped
create and preserve thousands of auto sector jobs and put our Nation on
a path towards greater energy security. The NAM believes defunding ATVM
will hurt manufacturers and their employees.''
I mean, if you had to go out and find a business group in this
country that has more credibility, I don't know what it would be. It's
the National Association of Manufacturers.
The Chamber of Commerce, which is also not an organ of the Democratic
Party, says: ``As Congress sets spending priorities, the Chamber wishes
to highlight a few important facts about the Advanced Technology
Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.
``First, the program was authorized in the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007, which was supported by both Republicans and
Democrats as an important step in reducing America's dependence on oil
from unstable regimes.
``Second, ATVM loans, which will be repaid with interest, incentivize
automakers and suppliers to build more fuel-efficient advanced
technology vehicles in the U.S., providing new opportunities for
American workers in a sector of the economy that is critical to the
Nation's recovery.
``Third, the fact that the Department of Energy has yet to use the
funds Congress appropriated for the program is not the fault of
industry. Numerous loan applications have been in the queue for years,
waiting for the administration to complete its due diligence.''
That line started in the previous administration. So this is a jobs
program.
I say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, we want to take care of
those people who have suffered disasters. We want to take care of them.
We will take care of them, but we also want to provide jobs for
Americans who are unemployed. If I were in your shoes, I'd support jobs
for workers and also take care of those people who are suffering
because of a disaster.
Now, these are Republican-leaning organizations. They get it. Just
vote ``no,'' and let's get a clean bill and do the right thing for the
country.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield 3 minutes, Mr. Speaker, to the
chairman of the Interior appropriations subcommittee, the gentleman
from Idaho (Mr. Simpson).
Mr. SIMPSON. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I loved listening to the gentleman from Washington's debate. Now, if
the gentleman wants to really create some jobs in this country, we can
create hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs if we'll start
getting oil going back in the gulf and permitted. The gentleman talked
about not being so reliant on foreign oil. We've got rigs right now
that were in the gulf that are off the coast of Africa because they
can't get permitted in the gulf. Now, do you want to create millions of
jobs? Join us on that, and let's create millions of jobs.
The gentleman talked about, geez, he just doesn't understand how
people could change their votes. People actually sometimes learn more
information and decide that they were wrong the time before and that
now they'll change their votes, just like some people on that side of
the aisle who actually issue press releases saying that they were going
to support this CR and then change their minds. That's okay.
Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. SIMPSON. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from
Washington.
Mr. DICKS. I didn't put out a press release, but I'll tell you one
thing. I listen. I listen to the Chamber of Commerce and to the
National Association of Manufacturers. I listen.
Mr. SIMPSON. I reclaim my time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of this continuing resolution.
This CR is vital to keeping our government operating over the next 7
weeks while Congress completes its work on next year's budget.
It's worth reminding Members that tonight this CR actually reduces
spending from last year's enacted levels and saves taxpayers billions
of dollars. The irony is that voting against this CR is actually a vote
for more spending. If you want to reduce government spending, then you
should vote for this CR. It's pretty simple, really.
FEMA's coffers for disaster assistance are about to run dry. There is
no such thing as a Republican natural disaster or a Democrat natural
disaster. The last thing Congress should do is hold up disaster
assistance because of partisan politics. We need to approve this CR
tonight and get the relief to those in need as quickly as humanly
possible.
Now, I've got to tell you, in all honestly, I'm not one of those
people who believes that we have to offset every emergency. We have
done some in the past--some we have not--but in the past, we have not
had a $14 trillion deficit. That's the danger to this country is the
$14 trillion deficit and the $1.6 trillion we add to it every damned
year.
I've got to admit, this is only $1 billion. But do you know what?
Some people say, Oh, that's only $1 billion. I heard one Member say
yesterday it was nickels and dimes. In Idaho, $1 billion is not nickels
and dimes. We did not get into this situation a trillion dollars at a
time. We got here a million and a billion dollars at a time, and that's
how we're going to get out of this situation. So let's do our job and
do what's right for the country and get this deficit under control; and
if we can offset it, let's offset it.
{time} 0000
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind the Members to refrain
from using profanity in debate.
Mr. DICKS. I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished ranking member of
the Natural Resources Committee, the gentleman Massachusetts (Mr.
Markey).
Mr. MARKEY. This is not a debate over compassion. This is not a
debate over who cares more about the people in Joplin or the people in
Vermont. This is a debate about what the Republicans, what the Tea
Party has decided to use as an excuse, as a guise to finish off the
revolution that the Democrats
[[Page H6406]]
have put in place that changes our relationship with where we get our
energy from.
Big Oil and Big Coal have fought solar, wind, all-electric vehicles,
biomass, geothermal, that entire revolution because they know that it
will eat into their profits.
So a disaster occurs that each of us wants to respond to. The
Republicans, responding to the oil and coal industry, say this is our
chance to kill the revolution that makes it possible to have vehicles
go 50, 60, 80, 100 miles a gallon without oil, no oil, that makes it
possible for us to have wind and solar generate the electricity that
will fuel those vehicles without sending greenhouse gases up into the
atmosphere, which is changing our climate and leading to these storms,
leading to these floods, leading to these disasters that then needs
FEMA, need the relief that we give to these families. So they take the
chance, they take the opportunity to kill the very programs which are
the solution to these disasters which are being created here in our
country and around the world, the agenda of Big Oil and Big Coal.
And the temerity of it all is that they know that the automotive
program has already created 39,000 jobs in our country over the last 3
years and that this one cut that they are talking about tonight will
kill 10,000 jobs over the next year. In the solar industry--and, by the
way, they cut out $100 million in solar and wind guarantees as well.
Right now, ladies and gentlemen, there are 85,000 jobs in the wind
industry, almost all of them created in the last 4 years. There are
85,000 jobs in the coal industry. In other words, in the last 5 years,
wind now equals the entire coal industry. There are 100,000 jobs in the
solar industry, and last year we were a net exporter to China; 100,000
jobs in solar, 85,000 jobs in wind, and it is the future.
The oil industry laid off 20,000 employees over the last 3 years. Let
us talk here about future, about young people, about this planet, about
backing out the oil from OPEC so we can tell them we don't need their
oil any more than we need their sand. That's what this debate is about
tonight.
And under the guise, with these crocodile tears of how much they care
about the victims, as though it's any greater on our side, they are
using it as the guise to kill these programs. That's what it's all
about tonight. That's why we're angry. That's what this is all about.
Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. MARKEY. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
Mr. DICKS. Isn't it true that these alternative energy programs all
create jobs?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
Don't they all create jobs, these alternative energy programs? So
instead of just having the automobile program that creates jobs cut by
$1.5 billion, now they are taking $100 million out of another program
that creates jobs for the American people, so this is a double header.
Mr. MARKEY. They could have taken this money out of the $41 million
of gas breaks for the oil and gas industry, but, no, they take it out
of solar, they take it out of wind.
And by the way, wind and solar, with the same amount of money,
creates five times more jobs than an investment in fossil fuels does.
So they keep the money in for the programs that create three to five
times less jobs than the program they are knee-capping here this
evening. That's what this vote is all about.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. MARKEY. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Is Solyndra part of the revolution that the
gentleman is talking about?
Mr. MARKEY. Solyndra will receive no money under this program.
Who will receive this money? Indiana will receive the money.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.
Mr. DICKS. I yield the gentleman 15 additional seconds.
The program was started under the previous administration, the Bush
administration. The last day they tried to force it out, to have it
approved, and it was turned down by the good staff at the Department of
Energy.
Mr. MARKEY. So they will not receive a nickel under this program. The
oil and gas industry will receive that money as they tip the people of
our country upside down and shake the money out of their pockets.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) a valued member of our committee.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, what the previous gentlemen did not say
is that Solyndra received $500 million because they have friends in
high places. Despite even people in this administration who said don't
do it, they received $500 million. If that was in a different country,
we wouldn't call it waste; we would call it corruption. But we won't do
that here. The gentleman didn't say that.
He talks about the revolution. This cuts $100 million from a program
that gave because of influence, because of friends in high places,
because of bundlers of campaign contribution funds to a corporation
that went bankrupt and laid off a thousand people after receiving this
money.
Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.
Mr. DICKS. I would just point out that one of the largest investors
was Walmart, and Walmart has a long history of supporting Republican
candidates. And I will just say, I will just say they invested, I
think, $3 or $400 million. So there was a lot of private sector
investment here, too.
I appreciate it.
Mr. DIAZ-BALART. I reclaim my time.
Despite what the gentleman says, Mr. Speaker, the previous
President's administration denied the funding for Solyndra because they
knew it was a scam, regardless of anything else. This administration
did that.
Now, the reason we have to support this CR--let's cut politics aside.
Let's not talk about revolutions of money blown like stimulus money,
that was blown. The reason this CR makes sense is because there are
people who are suffering from natural disasters. This CR funds that
program and it helps them out. And the reason this is important is
because it controls the size and the cost of the Federal Government
that is totally out of control.
So no more gimmicks, no more giveaways to friends of friends because
of high pressure.
Let's pass this CR so we can keep the government rolling, so we can
slow down the growth of government, and so we can help the victims
without corruption of those who have friends in high places.
Mr. DICKS. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a valued
member of our committee, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).
Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in support of this continuing
resolution. It will fund the government through November 18. It takes
care of many of our disaster needs.
As you heard from my colleague so eloquently, Mr. Marino of
Pennsylvania, you heard about the plight of so many people in towns
like Shickshinny and West Pittston who are living in the front yard in
the cars. People are broken. Communities have been ruined, and so we
need to pass this bill.
I urge you to support this bill.
{time} 0010
I've heard a lot of talk tonight about manufacturing. My dad's family
spent 100 years making industrial hardware in Pennsylvania. If you
really care about manufacturing, some of you might have considered
voting for a bill last week to allow the Nation's largest exporter to
open up a billion-dollar facility in the State of South Carolina to
hire a thousand people to make aircraft. If you really want to help
manufacturing, you should've voted for that bill.
You can also help us in stopping EPA's assault on the coal industry
and on the cement industry. I represent the largest cement-producing
district in America. These industries are in trouble, and they're under
assault by this EPA. Help us. There'll be measures considered here to
deal with them.
[[Page H6407]]
If you are truly concerned about manufacturing, innovation and
research, you wouldn't have slapped a 2.3 percent tax on medical
devices. It's going to kill tens of thousands of jobs in this country.
We make a lot of devices in my part of the world, in Pennsylvania and
New Jersey. We need help. Our manufacturers need help.
So rather than defending a company out in California that just wasted
$500 million, down the drain, taxpayer dollars, 1,100 people out of
work, let's do something to help manufacturers. And most importantly,
let's pass this bill tonight to help so many people who are struggling
throughout this country in Pennsylvania; New Jersey; New York; Vermont;
the people of the South; Joplin, Missouri; and elsewhere who have been
affected by these horrible natural disasters. Please, stand up, do the
right thing and vote for this continuing resolution.
Mr. DICKS. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Arkansas (Mr. Womack), a hardworking member of our committee and a
newcomer to the Congress.
Mr. WOMACK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the
Appropriations Committee for the time.
I know the hour is late. It's been a long time. Soon we will complete
action on this temporary spending measure for 2012. Obviously, it is
work that has to be done. As my friend, the distinguished Rules
Committee chairman appropriately quoted earlier this evening: the
process has been ugly. It has been messy; but it works.
The good news is that most of America has gone to bed and not witness
to the bickering and rancor evidenced in this Chamber. I can only hope
that when they wake up tomorrow, we will have done the people's work,
funding government beyond October 1, giving necessary funding to the
victims of natural disasters, and doing it such a way that promotes the
kind of fiscal responsibility long demanded by the people of America.
It will be sad, indeed tragic, if when the sun comes up tomorrow,
this Congress, instead of bringing certainty and relief to those
struggling, as this CR does, we impose yet another threat of a
government shutdown and more uncertainty into an already skeptical
populace.
This legislation up until yesterday, Mr. Speaker, had bipartisan
support. And only because my friends on the other side of the aisle
recognized that many on our side preferred much deeper cuts and might
be predisposed to opposing the CR, they pounced on it. And quickly, in
an instant, that bipartisan support disappeared into the bowels of the
business as usual. In other words, Mr. Speaker, it was politics ahead
of the people.
Let's remember that this CR we'll vote on in the next few minutes was
crafted based on the numbers outlined in the BCA approved in this
Chamber just a few weeks ago, complete with desperately need disaster
funding, reasonably and responsibly offset.
I urge my colleagues to support the CR.
Mr. DICKS. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. May I inquire of the time remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Kentucky has 9 minutes
remaining. The gentleman from Washington has 4\3/4\ minutes remaining.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Nunnelee), a member of the committee.
Mr. NUNNELEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. The
question we're debating tonight is not whether we give aid and
assistance to those of our neighbors that have been hit by serious
disasters. We all agree that's the appropriate thing to do. The
question is do we cut spending elsewhere to pay for that assistance.
Now, what our friends on the left have told us is, look, that's not
the way we've done it in the past. In fact, we've always done it by
just going ahead and spending without any offset. Doing it the way
we've always done it has put us $14 trillion in debt.
What we have to do is exactly what the people of Monroe County,
Mississippi did on the night of April 26. Those families had dreams.
They had hopes; they had plans. And on April 27, the tornados hit and
their plans changed, and they redirected their spending plans to take
care of the disaster. Now, if the families in Monroe County,
Mississippi have done that, they have every reason to expect their
government to do the same thing.
Now, we've been told, But we need some government program to create
jobs. If we will give the American people the assurance that their
government is serious about cutting spending like this bill does, we'll
give them the confidence to create jobs. If we remove the regulatory
burdens, American businesses will create jobs. And if we give them the
assurance that we're not going to raise their taxes, the American
economy will thrive and create jobs.
Mr. DICKS. I yield the balance of my time to the distinguished whip
of the Democratic Party, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), one
of my goodest, best friends.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized
for 4\3/4\ minutes.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this is a legislative arena, not a coliseum
to attack one another. It is a legislative arena to try to come
together to do what the American public expects us to do.
There are at least two crises confronting the American people, and
perhaps three. First of all, they are concerned about the fiscal
posture of this country. They're right. We need to address that.
Secondly, they're concerned about jobs. And immediately, as the
gentleman from Mississippi just pointed out, and the gentleman from
Pennsylvania who spoke earlier, they are concerned about the disasters
that have put them at risk. And I suggest to you the people in your
district and in my district who don't have a job, who aren't sure how
they are going to pay their mortgage and aren't sure that they are
going to be able to buy food tomorrow believe that they too have been
confronted with a disaster. They want us to deal with all three of
those items and, yes, perhaps more.
Many of you have stood on this floor and said we need to act now to
help these people who have been the victims of hurricane, of quake, of
fire, of flood. Now, if you want to act now, what you bring to this
floor is a bill that is not controversial so it does not get mired in
this bickering back and forth, because we care deeply about responding
now.
This bill has never enjoyed bipartisan support from my perspective,
and I told your whip that on Tuesday. There was no surprise. We believe
strongly that the provision that you have put in this bill is
detrimental to working people and the expansion of our economy. You
perhaps do not agree on that. Perhaps we have a legitimate item of
disagreement. And so if you were really concerned about those flood
victims, about those hurricane victims, you would have taken that out
and met that issue another day. But you chose not to do that.
You chose to continue the partisan path of placing at risk the
continued funding of government through November 18, which you have all
expressed a desire to do, and jobs, not that Democrats say are
advantaged by the provision you want to strike, but the Chamber of
Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
{time} 0020
They say it puts jobs at risk. Your folks in Pennsylvania, I tell my
friend, will not be helped if this bill continues to be mired in
partisan differences. And you knew there was a partisan difference, and
notwithstanding that, you brought it back to this floor. Now I
understand there are some of you that were concerned that this was
$1.043 trillion rather than $1.019 trillion. That's been changed for
you now. And I'm sure all your Tea Party friends are going to be very
enthusiastic that for four-tenths of a percent you perhaps have changed
your vote. My, my, my. Four-tenths of a percent. That's the difference
in this bill from a fiscal perspective.
My friends, Americans need our help. They don't need Republican help
or Democratic help; they need all of our help. They need it now. They
need it not mired in partisan bickering, as my friend said from
Arkansas. They need us to come together on that which we can agree,
giving our folks help when
[[Page H6408]]
they need it--now. And I will tell you that the Senate determined that
there was twice the need--indeed, three times the need--that you have
determined.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's defeat this bill and let's bring tonight
or tomorrow morning a bill that I guarantee you will pass
overwhelmingly in this House.
Yesterday, we were hoping to vote--Democrats and Republicans
together--on a bipartisan bill to fund the Government through November
according to the budget deal we had agreed upon.
We did vote together, as it turns out, in bipartisan opposition,
though for very different reasons.
Democrats opposed it because it was too extreme, endangering
emergency funding to help our constituents hit by disasters and
threatening to cut from a program that actually creates jobs.
Some Republicans voted against the CR because it wasn't extreme
enough.
Now, we have been waiting all day for the Republican leadership to
send us a bipartisan bill that should have voted on yesterday.
Unfortunately, the bill we're voting on tonight shows they didn't
receive the message.
Not only have they put forward the same bill that failed yesterday,
with the same troublesome offset and cuts as before, they have worsened
it by casting a line to extreme members of their party.
Those Members who wanted an additional $24 billion cut yesterday, I
suspect, will not be lured by $100 million tonight.
That is just four tenths of one percent of what they were demanding.
This new addition to the bill, which would cut loans for the
construction of renewable energy projects that create jobs, is
essentially an empty political attack on the administration.
Now is not the time for political games.
The American people want us to get serious on the deficit, and we had
agreed on a way to do so.
They want us to get serious on jobs and this CR does just the
opposite.
The CR we need to pass is one that adheres to the August budget deal.
There is already bipartisan agreement in the Senate on how to handle
emergency disaster assistance, and we should follow that example.
Let's have a vote on a CR we can pass, one the senate can pass, and
one that isn't set up to drive the parties further apart on budgetary
issues.
Let's see a version that will bring us together.
As I said yesterday, I am ready to cast my vote for that CR, and I
know other Democrats feel the same way.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this version, and I sincerely hope the
Republican leadership will recognize why and work with us to do what's
best for our country.
Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind Members to direct
their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
the time.
This really is a simple bill. It's merely a bridge to get us until
November the 18th to continue the government basically as is until that
time, to get us time to work with the Senate to put together the
funding for all of fiscal 2012. Norm Dicks and I started out this year
agreeing that we wanted to restore regular order to the Appropriations
Committee and the process. And we've worked in that regard. The
committee has dealt with 11 of the 12 appropriations bills. Six of them
you've had a chance on the floor to amend and pass, which you have.
Unfortunately, our brethren across the Capitol have been a little bit
slow, and they passed one bill, which necessitated that we do something
to continue the government while we try to work with them to bring them
along on their bills and fund fiscal 2012.
This bill started out as a bipartisan bill. We worked to make it so.
But along the way, on the eve of the bill, all of a sudden we were
confronted with a partisan attack from this side of the aisle, and we
had no choice but to respond. But still yet this is a bipartisanly
constructed bill. It doesn't attack anyone.
The Homeland Security bill that passed the body, you will recall,
carried the provision that required that the billion dollars in that
bill for FEMA would be offset from the automobile account that's been
discussed. That passed this body in a bipartisan vote. Many Democrats
voted for it, joined Republicans. No one raised a concern--until this
bill came to the floor. And all of a sudden, there was this great
eruption of partisanship on that side of the aisle, which I am very sad
about.
But we will muddle through. This is a good bill. It funds your
government at the level that was agreed to by the parties in the House,
Senate, and White House, the level that is now the law. It funds us
until November 18. And by then we hope to have worked out with our
Senate brethren and sisters the funding for the rest of fiscal 2012.
So, the hour is late. Time is short. We've made up our minds. Let's
vote.
Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, here they go again--House
Republicans are driving America once more to the brink. They took us to
the edge of a shutdown in April. They shoved us to the precipice of
America's first ever default in August. And now after their similar
attempt failed yesterday, House Republicans are again playing politics
with the American economy, and American families.
Hurricane Irene leveled homes end businesses in the Northeast. An
earthquake destroyed businesses in Mineral, Virginia. In my district,
Tropical Storm Lee left hundreds of families homeless and damaged
dozens of small businesses. And yet in this Continuing Resolution,
House Republicans state they will only help those in extremis if we gut
the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program--a successful
program that spurs Amerian innovation and creates American jobs.
In fact, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the retention of this
important program stating it ``promotes manufacturing in the U.S. and
is an important component.''
Americans don't need brinkmanship; they need predictability and
security. This Continuing Resolution gives them neither. I would urge
my colleagues to reject it in favor of one that protects Americans.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to
H.R. 2608, ``The Small Business Program Extension and Reform Act of
2011,'' which provides for an additional temporary extension of
programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment
Act of 1958 at the expense of job creating efforts.
The bill before us today is almost identical to the bill that we
voted against yesterday. Mr. Speaker the bill before us will hurt jobs.
The central issue before our country is jobs and the creation of jobs
to secure our economy. We need to focus on talking about jobs. Instead,
we are now once again focused on a measure that was rejected yesterday.
The amendment added to this bill is clearly a desperate attempt by my
Republican colleagues to pass their own ideological Continuing
Resolution. This amendment would keep the same offset for disaster
relief which will result in a $1.5 billion cut to the Advanced
Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program (ATVM), which has been a
proven job creator, it created 35,000 jobs in the private sector. The
purpose of the program is to enable American businesses to build the
cars of the future that could be sold to China, rather than the
reverse. It is intended to give us a technological boast in the auto
industry. As if this was not enough, the amendment adds an additional
cut--a rescission of $100 million from the Recovery Act Renewable
Energy Loan guarantee program, which is another cut to a program that
creates jobs. A move to secure the votes of members concerned about the
few party interests not the interests of Americans. This legislation
causes the loss of American jobs!
The only broken record that I want to hear is the mantra of how to
create jobs. Let us focus on putting the American people back to work,
rather than bringing back measures that failed to garner support
yesterday. I implore my colleagues to recall the reasons they rejected
this measure in the first place and to do so again. Americans have
always come to the aid of those in need, after a natural disaster.
Americans demonstrate a level of compassion that should not be damped
by measures like the one before us today. Disaster relief funding is
not a political football; it addresses the needs of Americans who find
themselves the victims of unforeseeable natural disasters. It is born
out of our nation's desire to aid those who are in need.
Now . . . now is not the time to trample on the needs of small
business owners. Now is not the time to delay assistance to those who
need support from FEMA. Now is not the time for a partisan position
that will only cause more Americans to suffer while they have to wait
on Congress to find balance. Now is the time for balance and reason.
Small businesses have long been the bedrock of our nation's economy.
Even with the advent of modern-day multi-national corporations most of
our day-to-day purchases take place at ``mom and pop'' small
businesses.
This piece of legislation holds small businesses hostage in order to
make a demand that has never been made by Republicans before. This
demand changes their practice during previous administrations. In the
past my
[[Page H6409]]
colleagues declared disaster funding as emergency spending and did not
require offsetting emergency spending.
This bill would offset the $1 billion in FY11 disaster relief funding
using a program that is a proven job-creator, a program for small
businesses. The very small businesses that are currently in need of
access to loans and other lines of credit in order to build their
businesses and create jobs. The very small businesses that are the life
blood of our economy. These businesses, the ``mom and pop'' shops
across our nation are being held hostage by my colleagues across the
aisle at the expense of jobs.
The future successes of their businesses are being held hostage in
order to demand offsets of funds that have not required such an offset
in the past. These funds would aid victims of natural disasters. To
propose such a measure at a time when our economy is so fragile and
when so many are struggling to survive is unfathomable.
At a time when our nation needs every single job we can create.
Before us is a job killing measure. We need job creation to help
families survive on smaller and smaller pay checks. Before us is
legislation that places a halt on this growth. My colleagues on the
other side of the aisle for the first time in our nation's history have
added to this piece of legislation a requirement that disaster aid be
offset. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needs the $6.9
billion in funding which has been approved in the Senate last week
without requiring offset. My colleagues have cut this funding in half.
They have offset this funding by decreasing the funds allotted by
ending the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.
These cuts cost Americans tens of thousands of jobs. Under the previous
administration Republicans supported disaster relief without requiring
an offset, on eight separate occasions but today they want to require
cuts that will result in job loss.
As the Representative for Houston, which suffered severe damage in
2008 as a result of Hurricane Ike, I understand the importance of
cleanup and rebuilding in the wake of natural disaster. Federal
Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) addresses the challenges our
communities face when we are confronted with a catastrophic event or a
domestic terrorist attack. It is important for people to understand
that our capacity to deal with hurricanes directly reflects our ability
to respond to a terrorist attack in Texas or New York, an earthquake in
California, or a nationwide pandemic flu outbreak.
We must fund disaster relief. These are unforeseeable events. The
devastating hurricanes in Texas in recent years is a perfect example.
Our response to those events have demonstrated a need for significant
improvement. During Hurricane Katrina, there were insufficient
quantities of generators that forced hospitals to evacuate patients.
Local governments waited days for commodities like ice, water, MREs,
and blue tarps. Evacuees from Texas arrived in Shreveport and Bastrop
shelters that were grossly unfit for occupancy, and 2,500 people were
forced to use the same shower facility.
We must prepare our first responders with the best information and
training to quickly analyze and share information to understand alerts
and warning systems, evacuation planning, mission assignments to other
agencies, contingency contracting, pre-staged resources, Regional
Hurricane Plans and exercises, communications support, citizen
preparedness, disaster housing, and long-term recovery planning. In
order to accomplish this we must fund FEMA, not at the expense of small
business but because Americans come together at times of crisis. This
should be what it has always been--emergency funding.
Emergency preparedness is not the exclusive responsibility of the
federal government or individual agencies within it. State and local
officials, nonprofit organizations, private sector businesses, and
individual citizens must all contribute to the mission in order for our
Nation to succeed at protecting life and property from disasters.
Recovery and mitigation are critical to protecting communities from
future threats, and our ability to respond will suffer if we do not
focus attention and resources on those missions.
On any given day the City of Houston faces a widespread and ever-
changing array of threats, such as terrorism, organized crime, natural
disasters and industrial accidents. Cities and towns across the Nation
face these and other threats. Indeed, every day, ensuring the security
of the homeland requires the interaction of multiple Federal
departments and agencies, as well as operational collaboration across
Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial governments,
nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. This
collaboration and cooperation undergirds our security posture at our
borders and ports, our preparedness in our communities, and our ability
to effectively react to crises. Consider the devastation that was
brought by the tornadoes in Alabama and the Southern United States, the
flooding that has impacted the entire Mississippi River region, from
Montana to Tennessee, and tornado that claimed more than 100 lives in
Joplin, Missouri, have shown us that there are disasters we cannot
predict, and forces of nature for which we cannot plan.
This legislation is a job killer, it is an affront to growing small
businesses and will destroy thousands of jobs. I have been firmly
committed to supporting small businesses and this legislation as
written will fail to help create the jobs we need at this time. We
should not prevent the growth of small business in order to address the
unrealistic demands related to disaster relief funding.
Moreover, 99 percent of all independent companies and businesses in
the United States are considered small businesses. They are the engine
of our economy, creating two-thirds of the new jobs over the last 15
years. America's 27 million small businesses continue to face a lack of
credit and tight lending standards, with the number of small
businesses' loans down nearly 5 million since the financial crisis in
2008.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, these small
businesses account for 52 percent of all U.S. workers. These small
businesses also provide a continuing source of vitality for the
American economy. Small businesses in the U.S. produced three-fourths
of the economy's new jobs between 1990 and 1995, and represent an entry
point into the economy for new groups. Women, for instance, participate
heavily in small businesses.
The number of female-owned businesses climbed by 89 percent, to an
estimated 8.1 million, between 1987 and 1997, and women-owned sole
proprietorships were expected to reach 35 percent of all such ventures
by the year 2000. Small firms also tend to hire a greater number of
older workers and people who prefer to work part-time.
A major strength of small businesses is their ability to respond
quickly to changing economic conditions. They often know their
customers personally and are especially suited to meet local needs.
There are tons of stories of start-up companies catching national
attention and growing into large corporations. Just a few examples of
these types of start-up businesses making big include the computer
software company Microsoft; the package delivery service Federal
Express; sports clothing manufacturer Nike; the computer networking
firm America OnLine; and ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's.
We must always ensure that we place a high level of priority on small
businesses. It is also important that we work towards ensuring that
small businesses receive all the tools and resources necessary for
their continued growth and development.
American small businesses are the heart beat of our nation. I believe
that small businesses represent more than the American dream--they
represent the American economy. Small businesses account for 95 percent
of all employers, create half of our gross domestic product, and
provide three out of four new jobs in this country.
Small business growth means economic growth for the nation. But to
keep this segment of our economy thriving, entrepreneurs need access to
loans. Through loans, small business owners can expand their
businesses, hire more workers and provide more goods and services. The
Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal organization that aids
small businesses with loan and development programs, is a key provider
of support to small businesses. The SBA's main loan program accounts
for 30 percent of all long-term small business borrowing in America.
I have worked hard to help small business owners to fully realize
their potential. That is why I support entrepreneurial development
programs, including the Small Business Development Center and Women's
Business Center programs. These initiatives provide counseling in a
variety of critical areas, including business plan development,
finance, and marketing. We must consider what impact changes in this
appropriations bill will have on small businesses.
There are 5.8 million minority owned businesses in the United States,
representing a significant aspect of our economy. In 2007, minority
owned businesses employed nearly 6 million Americans and generated $1
trillion dollars in economic output.
Women owned businesses have increased 20% since 2002, and currently
total close to 8 million. These organizations make up more than half of
all businesses in health care and social assistance.
My home city of Houston, Texas is home to more than 60,000 women
owned businesses, and more than 60,000 African American owned
businesses.
According to a 2009 report published by the Economic Policy
Institute, ``Starting in 2004, the Small Business Administration (SBA)
set goals for small business participation in federal contracts. It
encouraged agencies to award contracts to companies owned by women,
veterans, and minorities or those located in economically challenged
areas and
[[Page H6410]]
gave them benchmarks to work toward. The targets are specific: 23% of
contracts to small business, 5% to woman-owned small businesses, and 3%
to disabled veteran-owned and HUBZone small businesses.''
Women and minority owned businesses generate billions of dollars and
employ millions of people. They are certainly qualified to receive
these contracts. A mandatory DOD outreach program women and minority
owned businesses aware of all of the contract opportunities available
to them.
Facts: Small businesses are important because they:
(1) Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms,
(2) Employ just over half of all private sector employees,
(3) Pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll,
(4) Generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years,
(5) Create more than half of the nonfarm private gross domestic
product (GDP),
(6) Hire 40 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists,
engineers, and computer programmers),
(7) Are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises,
(8) Made up 97.3 percent of all identified exporters and produced
30.2 percent of the known export value in FY 2007,
(9) Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting
firms and twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the one
percent most cited.
Republicans appear to be a mission to cut programs that help families
and will buttress small businesses. At a time when there are Americans
faced with the perils which arise during cleaning up after a natural
disaster. Now is not the time to force those Americans to wait on a
partisan battle, to pick a fight that has not been fought in eight
previous authorizations of funds for disaster relief. There needs to be
a balance when determining which programs to cut and when. A balance to
finding the funds that will address national disasters. A balanced
approach is important to ensuring that small business receive the
support they need.
I stand here once again asking my colleagues to remember that just
yesterday we opposed this bill. I implore you to do this once more. I
support small business and job creation. I will not support small
business growth being held hostage to the unrealistic demands made by
my Republican colleagues. American families need measures that are job
growers rather than measures that are jobs killers.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 412, the previous question is ordered.
The question is on the motion by the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Rogers).
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 219,
noes 203, not voting 11, as follows:
[Roll No. 727]
AYES--219
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Amodei
Bachus
Barletta
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Holden
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kelly
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kissell
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Latham
LaTourette
Latta
Lewis (CA)
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lungren, Daniel E.
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
McCarthy (CA)
McCarthy (NY)
McCaul
McCotter
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Michaud
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pence
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Reed
Rehberg
Renacci
Ribble
Rigell
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Webster
Welch
West
Whitfield
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOES--203
Ackerman
Amash
Andrews
Austria
Baca
Baldwin
Barrow
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Boren
Boswell
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Broun (GA)
Brown (FL)
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Chandler
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Courtney
Critz
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DesJarlais
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Duncan (SC)
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Farr
Fattah
Filner
Flake
Frank (MA)
Franks (AZ)
Fudge
Garamendi
Gingrey (GA)
Graves (GA)
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Hirono
Hochul
Holt
Honda
Hoyer
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Inslee
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Jordan
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kind
King (IA)
Kucinich
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Lowey
Lujan
Lummis
Lynch
Mack
Maloney
Markey
Matheson
Matsui
McClintock
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Mulvaney
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Olver
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pearce
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Poe (TX)
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Ross (AR)
Rothman (NJ)
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sherman
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Towns
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walsh (IL)
Walz (MN)
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Westmoreland
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--11
Bachmann
Deutch
Giffords
Gohmert
Gonzalez
Paul
Rangel
Reichert
Shuler
Speier
Stark
{time} 0050
So the motion was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
Correcting the Enrollment
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a concurrent
resolution and ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 81
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That, in the enrollment of the bill (H.R. 2608)
to provide for an additional temporary extension of programs
under the Small Business Act and the Small Business
Investment Act of 1958, and for other purposes, the Clerk of
the House of Representatives shall make the following
correction:
Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act making continuing
appropriations for fiscal year 2012, and for other
purposes.''.
The concurrent resolution was agreed to.
[[Page H6411]]
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________