[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16219]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  (Mr. HALL of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, later today, we will begin work 
on important legislation to finally help America end its dependence on 
foreign oil and pursue newer, cleaner forms of energy.
  I'm excited that the Energy and Water appropriations bill that we 
will pass this week will take the long overdue step of setting a new 
course for our energy future by making significant investments in 
renewables and efficiency.
  For too many years, working families have felt the sting of high gas 
prices at the gas pump and rising home energy costs. Our economy has 
been made vulnerable to the whims of OPEC, and our reliance on fossil 
fuels has polluted our air and exacerbated climate change.
  All the while, State and local governments have been forced to try to 
fill the leadership vacuum left by the Congress and this President.
  No more. The new Congress is prepared to meet our Nation's energy 
challenges head-on, and to do so, this bill provides almost $2 billion 
for renewables and efficiency, significantly more than the President 
requested.
  I am concerned that it continues to provide unwarranted taxpayer 
subsidies for nuclear power that hide the true consumer costs of this 
power source, but I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to 
ratify it.

                          ____________________