[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21924-21925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 2272, 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS ACT 
                                OF 2007

  Mr. WU. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 2272) to invest in innovation through 
research and development, and to improve the competitiveness of the 
United States, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate 
amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.


            Motion to Instruct Offered by Mr. Hall of Texas

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to instruct 
conferees.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Hall of Texas moves that the managers on the part of 
     the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the 
     two Houses on the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 2272, be 
     instructed to:
       (A) insist on the lower overall authorization level as set 
     forth by the House in H.R. 2272; and
       (B) insist on the language of subsection (a) of Section 203 
     of the House bill, relating to prioritization of early career 
     grants to science and engineering researchers for the 
     expansion of domestic energy production and use through coal-
     to-liquids technology and advanced nuclear reprocessing.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu) 
each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today to offer a straightforward motion to instruct conferees 
on H.R. 2272, a bill to invest in innovation through research and 
development, and to improve the competitiveness of the United States.
  This motion to instruct the conferees simply insists that the House 
conferees support the House position. It does this in two important 
ways that I believe will make the conference report better and Members 
on both sides of the aisle proud to support it.
  First, the motion to instruct encourages the conferees to insist on 
the overall House authorization level, which is considerably lower than 
the Senate authorization level. In fact, estimates put the bill as 
passed by the Senate at approximately $40 billion higher than the total 
House authorization level.
  Second, this motion to instruct insists that House conferees support 
the previously adopted House position with regard to giving priority to 
grants to expand domestic energy production through the use of coal-to-
liquids. That type technology and advanced nuclear reprocessing should 
be used.
  I believe this is an important section of the bill that will help to 
ensure that we are preparing our scientists and our engineers for the 
future of energy security.
  Many Members of the House, both Republicans and Democrats, voted in 
favor of the authorization level and voted in favor of this program, 
including my good friend, the chairman of the Science and Technology 
Committee. I am encouraging Members to stand up for the House position 
on these two issues.
  Before I explain the importance of the provision regarding grants to 
expand energy production, let me take a moment to compare the 
authorization level in the House bill with the authorization level in 
the Senate bill.
  As the ranking member of the Committee on Science and Technology, I 
strongly support an increase in funding for the agencies that perform 
scientific research in this country. Without these agencies, we would 
fall far behind the rest of the world in innovation.
  Some of the greatest inventions of our time have come from the 
brilliant scientists of our country. To remain competitive as a Nation, 
we must encourage new ideas and educate new young minds, but we must 
also be mindful to exercise fiscal responsibility. The young minds we 
are educating should not be taught irresponsible spending habits. We 
have to lead by example.
  The House bill contains substantial increases for the sciences very 
close to the President's request, and moves us closer to the goal the 
President has set

[[Page 21925]]

out in the State of the Union Message calling for a doubling of the 
spending on the sciences.
  The Senate bill includes a vast increase in spending that is 
approximately $8 billion above the budget request by the administration 
for this year alone. I encourage my colleagues to work with me to 
increase spending on science in a responsible fashion.
  As we move to conference on the competitiveness bill, I also want to 
encourage my colleagues to support the provision in the House bill 
urging researchers to invest time and to invest money into advancing 
coal-to-liquids technology and nuclear reprocessing.
  There are, as my colleagues stated previously on the floor of this 
Chamber, several pieces to the energy puzzle. One very important piece 
continues to be the efficient and affordable research and development 
of this Nation's domestic energy resources. Twenty-seven percent of the 
world's recoverable coal reserves are in the United States and spread 
throughout our country, which would minimize supply disruptions in the 
event of a natural disaster or in the event of a terrorist attack.
  We are currently importing around 60 percent of our oil supply, and 
that number is projected to grow unless we do something about it. As 
the Saudi Arabia of coal, if our Nation can economically produce liquid 
transportation fuel from coal, we can reduce our dependence on foreign 
sources of oil and increase the security of this country.
  We also need to better manage our nuclear energy resources. In the 
pursuit of expanding our nuclear fleet, we should encourage scientists 
and engineers early in their careers to focus on the development of 
abandoned nuclear reprocessing technologies. We need to invigorate our 
aging nuclear sector so this energy source continues to serve as a 
clean, affordable, domestic energy resource for our consumers.
  The House may soon be taking up an energy package. To my knowledge, 
this energy package contains no language on coal-to-liquids and very 
little on nuclear energy. Given the fact that our Nation's continued 
growth and prosperity depend on affordable and reliable energy 
resources, I am disappointed that we are not promoting all options for 
Americans. This opportunity may be one of the few Members get to 
support our Nation's coal and our Nation's nuclear interests. We should 
take every opportunity to address citizens' concerns with rising energy 
prices. And that is why I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of 
this provision on this date.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WU. May I inquire of the gentleman from Texas if he has any 
further speakers?
  If the gentleman from Texas does not have any further speakers, I 
believe that I have the right to close.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas has the right to 
close.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. I just continue to reserve the balance of my time. 
I do want the right to close, and I have a speaker that is approaching 
at this time.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. WU. Madam Speaker, at this point, we have no further speakers, 
and I would yield the floor to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, you have indulged me as long as I 
can ask you to, and so has this gentleman from way out in deep west 
Texas. I'm honored to be here with him, so I will go ahead and close.
  As I wrap up here, I want to encourage the House Members to support 
the authorization level as it remains. It is as appropriate now as it 
was when the bill was passed overwhelmingly in the House.
  And I also want to reiterate my frustration of America's continued 
dependence on foreign sources of energy and encourage my colleagues to 
explore domestic sources of energy.
  For some reason, there's a war against energy from fossil fuels going 
right on down at this very time, this very day, and I'm not sure why. 
Anyone with just a little common sense is able to understand that in 
order to be less dependent on foreign sources of oil and to increase 
our national security, we need everything we can develop. We need 
conventional, renewable and alternative sources of energy. Our country 
at this time will not be able to continue to thrive and lead the world 
on renewable energy alone, so to punish the oil and gas industry and to 
not encourage alternative uses of coal and continued use of nuclear 
power is to ensure the United States will lose its place as a world 
leader.
  Make no mistake, I support the continued development and increased 
use of renewable energy, but not at the expense of fossil fuels and 
clean nuclear energy.
  Madam Speaker, the House is already on record supporting this 
language and this authorization level just 3 months ago. I can't think 
of a reason why it wouldn't be supported again today.
  I urge my colleagues to vote to keep this House-passed language in 
the bill that will result from the conference committee. And, Madam 
Speaker, thank you for your indulgence.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WU. Madam Speaker, I rise to make a brief closing statement.
  Madam Speaker, the issues raised by the gentleman from Texas have 
been solved to the satisfaction of a majority of the members of the 
committee.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

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