[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 98 (Wednesday, July 10, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 9, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2609) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2014, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this 
Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which is a poster child for why 
this House needs to get serious about replacing the sequester with a 
balanced, long-term budget agreement that keeps faith with our values 
and funds critical to national priorities.
  According to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance for the 
Pew Charitable Trusts, China overtook the United States in the 21st 
century's clean energy race last year, attracting $65.1 billion in 
clean energy investment compared to just $35.6 billion in the U.S. 
Rather than responding aggressively to this challenge, today's 
legislation effectively proposes to throw in the towel and slashes 
clean energy funding by 60 percent. As a result, America's families and 
businesses will be forced to pay more than they otherwise would on 
their utility bills as fewer homes are weatherized, deployment of cost-
effective clean energy technologies is delayed and smart grid 
modernization is postponed.
  The Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy, or ARPA-E, faces an 
even more devastating 81 percent cut. This early stage, high-impact 
program created by the bipartisan America Competes Act has already 
leveraged more than $450 million in private sector investment from $70 
million in funding to game-changing opportunities in areas like energy 
storage, advanced biofuels and smart grid technology. ARPA-E--and the 
transformational breakthroughs it is driving--would be all but shut 
down under this legislation.
  From basic research at DoE's Office of Science to environmental 
cleanup at our nation's nuclear defense sites to tackling the current 
$60 billion backlog at the Army Corps of Engineers, this legislation 
shrinks from America's challenges and shortchanges America's future.
  We can and should do better.

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