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ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001 -- (House of Representatives - June 27, 2000)

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   The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 532 and rule

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XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 4733.

   

[Time: 15:20]

   IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

   Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill (H.R. 4733) making appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes, with Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska in the chair.

   The Clerk read the title of the bill.

   The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having been read the first time.

   Under the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD) and the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. VISCLOSKY) each will control 30 minutes.

   The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD).

   Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

   Mr. Chairman, it is a privilege for me to present to the Committee of the Whole for its consideration the bill, H.R. 4733, making appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001.

   Mr. Chairman, this bill provides annual funding for a wide array of Federal Government programs which include such diverse matters as national security, environmental cleanup, flood control, advanced scientific research, navigation, alternative energy sources, nuclear power regulations.

   Programs funded by this bill affect multiple aspects of American life having significant implications for domestic security, commercial competitiveness, and the advance of science. I am proud of this bill as reported by the Committee on Appropriations, and I believe it merits the support of every Member of this body.

   Total funding for H.R. 4733 is $21.7 billion. This is over $500 million more than the fiscal year 2000 for energy and water development programs, but almost a billion dollars below the President's budget request.

   We were presented with an additional constraint in fiscal year 2001 because our 302(b) allocation consisted of two distinct parts: defense and nondefense. While the defense allocation in the bill is $12.9 billion, and that is about $755 million over the fiscal year 2000 and $191 million below the budget request, the nondefense portion of the allocation is significantly less. For the nondefense portion of our bill we received $8.8 billion, which is about $210 million below the last fiscal year.

   Despite the bill's constrained funding levels for nondefense programs, it provides adequate funding for the continuation of high-priority programs, promising the greatest return on the investment of taxpayer dollars.

   Title I of the bill provides funding for the civil works program of the Corps of Engineers. This includes, of course, projects for flood control, navigation, shoreline protection, and a variety of other things. The bill acknowledges the importance of water infrastructure by funding the civil works program at the same level as last year, a little over $4 billion.

   Within the amount appropriated for the Corps of Engineers, $153 million is for general investigations and $1.38 billion is for the construction program, and about $1.8 billion for the operation and maintenance.

   Mr. Chairman, funding for title II, most of which is for the Bureau of Reclamation, totals $770 million, a reduction of $35 million from last year's fiscal level. The bill also includes no funding for the CALFED Bay-Delta restoration program, a project which I have been greatly interested, in California. The reason for this is because we did not fund any unauthorized projects and the authorization for CALFED expired this year. Therefore, it was not funded, to my regret. But to be consistent with all of the Members, we followed that rule.

   There are reductions in title III of the bill, which includes the budget of the Department of Energy, particularly the nondefense programs. Despite constrained funding levels, most DOE nondefense programs are funded at last year's level or slightly below. One exception to that policy is the Yucca Mountain program to site a permanent geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel, high-level nuclear fuel. This program was increased about $413 million to maintain its schedule which calls for the Department of Energy to issue a site recommendation during the fiscal year 2001. We wanted to keep that on schedule, and thus we funded it accordingly.

   We sought to maintain the level of funding for science programs, and we increased that area over fiscal year 2000. We also recognized that there are delays in some ongoing projects such as the Spallation Neutron Source, and we were unable to fund several new science initiatives as proposed in the fiscal year 2001.

   Funding for the energy supply programs of the Department totals $576 million. This includes about $350 million for research and development of renewable energy technologies. We recognize that this is a little bit short of what the administration requested, and we wished that we had the funds to beef that up; but we feel that it is adequate to fund the renewable research effort.

   The bill provides $301 million for uranium facilities maintenance and remediation, a new account established to consolidate uranium programs that were spread through many other accounts.

   The largest spending category for the Energy and Water bill is that of environmental restoration and waste management of the Department of Energy. Funding for cleanup activities at the variety of sites in title III of the bill exceeds $6.4 billion for defense and nondefense programs.

   The bill also includes $6.1 billion for new National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy. Title IV of the bill provides $107 million reduction of $21 million in fiscal year 2000 for certain independent agencies of the Federal Government, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.

   Mr. Chairman, I owe a great deal of gratitude to the hard-working members of my Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. They have labored with difficult fiscal constraints to produce a bill that I think is fair and balanced. I particularly want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. YOUNG) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. OBEY), the chairman and ranking member of the full Committee on Appropriations, who helped us and cooperated with us in crafting the bill.

   Perhaps more importantly than any, I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. VISCLOSKY), the ranking minority member of the subcommittee. It has been a joy to work with him. He has been extremely helpful in crafting the bill. And then I certainly want to pay tribute to our staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard work in constructing an excellent bill.

   Mr. Chairman, I have been pleased to hear during the debate in the Committee on Rules the willingness of virtually, well, not virtually, every Member that spoke of a willingness to support this bill. I would hope that every Member of the House would support this bill. We feel it is an excellent bill within the constraints that we had to live with, and I would encourage every Member to support it.

   It is my privilege to present to the Committee of the Whole for its consideration H.R. 4733, making appropriations for energy and water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2001. Mr. Chairman, this bill provides annual funding for a wide array of Federal government programs which include such diverse matters as national security, environmental cleanup, flood control, advanced scientific research, navigation, alternative energy sources, and nuclear power regulation. Programs funded by this bill affect multiple aspects of American life, having significant implications for domestic security, commercial competitiveness, and the advance of science. I am proud of the bill reported by the Committee on Appropriations, and I believe it merits the support of the entire membership of this body.

   Total funding for H.R. 4733 is $21.7 billion. This is $546 million more than fiscal year 2000 for energy and water development programs, but $951.8 million below the President's budget request.

   We were presented with an additional constraint in fiscal year 2001 because our 302b allocation consisted of two distinct parts: defense and non-defense. While the defense allocation in the bill is $12.893 billion which is

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$755.5 million over fiscal year 2000 and $191 million below the budget request, the non-defense portion of the allocation is significantly less. For the non-defense portion of our bill, we received $8.85 billion which is $209.5 million below fiscal year 2000 and $760.7 million below the budget request. This was a severe constraint on our ability to provide funding for many programs in this bill.

   Despite the bill's constrained funding levels for non-defense programs, it provides adequate funding for the continuation of high-priority programs promising the greatest return on the investment of taxpayer dollars.

   Title I of the bill provides funding for the civil works program of the Corps of Engineers. The Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development is unanimous in its belief that this program is among the most valuable within the Subcommittee's jurisdiction. The national benefits of projects for flood control, navigation and shoreline protection demonstrably exceed project costs. The bill acknowledges the importance of water infrastructure by funding the civil works programs at $4.1 billion, an increase of $59.9 million over the amount requested by the Administration, and level with fiscal year 2000.

   Within the amount appropriated to the Corps of Engineers, $153.3 million is for general investigations, $1.38 billion is for the construction program, and $1.85 billion is for operation and maintenance. In addition, the bill includes $323.4 million for Flood Control, Mississippi River and Tributaries, project. The bill also fully funds the budget request of the regulatory program and the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program.

   Mr. Chairman, funding for Title II, most of which is for the Bureau of Reclamation, totals $770.5 million--a reduction of $35.3 million from the fiscal year 2000 level. The bill includes no funding for the CALFED Bay-Delta restoration program whose authorization expires in fiscal year 2000 and fully funds the budget request of $38.4 million for the Central Valley Project restoration fund.

   There are reductions in Title III of the bill which includes the budget of the Department of Energy, particularly in the non-defense programs. Despite constrained funding levels, most DOE non-defense programs are funded at last year's level or slightly below. The one exception is the Yucca Mountain program to site a permanent geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel. This program was increased to $413 million to maintain its schedule which calls for the Department of Energy to issue a site recommendation in fiscal year 2001.

   We sought to maintain level funding for science programs and provided $2.83 billion, an increase of $43.3 million over fiscal year 2000. However, there are delays in some on-going projects such as the Spallation Neutron Source, and we were unable to fund several new science initiatives proposed in fiscal year 2001.

   Funding for energy supply programs of the Department totals $576.5 million. This includes $350.5 million for research and development on renewable energy technologies. Although this falls short of the Administration's unrealistic budget request, it is a substantial and credible level of funding. The energy supply account also includes $231.8 million nuclear energy programs. The bill provides $22.5 million for the nuclear

   energy research initiative and $5 million, the full amount of the budget request, for the nuclear energy plant optimization program.

   The bill provides $301.4 million for uranium facilities maintenance and remediation, a new account established to consolidate uranium programs that were spread throughout other accounts. These programs were merged to enhance coordination and eliminate duplication in the environmental remediation work performed at the uranium enrichment facilities in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.

   The largest spending category in the Energy and Water Bill is that of environmental restoration and waste management at Department of Energy sites. Funding for cleanup activities in title III of the bill exceeds $6.4 billion for defense and non-defense programs. The Committee is dedicated to the environmental restoration of areas that participated in the development and maintenance of our nuclear security complex. This bill reflects the Committee's continued efforts to promote actual, physical site cleanups and to accelerate the completion of remediation work at DOE sites. Accordingly, the Committee has provided $1.08 billion, the full amount of the budget request, for defense facilities closure projects. This account concentrates funding on discrete sites that are on schedule for cleanup completion by the year 2006. The Committee has also directed the Department to establish a cleanup program for those sites and projects that can be completed by 2010.

   The bill includes $6.16 billion for the new National Nuclear Security Administration, a semi-autonomous agency within the Department of Energy. The bill provides $4.6 billion for stewardship of the Nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, $861.5 million for defense nuclear nonproliferation programs, and $677.6 million for the naval reactors program.

   Title IV of the bill provides $107.5 million, a reduction of $21 million from fiscal year 2000, for certain independent agencies of the Federal Government, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board.

   Mr. Chairman, I owe a debt of gratitude to the hard-working and dedicated Members of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. They have labored under difficult fiscal constraints to produce a bill that is balanced and fair. I am especially grateful to the Ranking Minority Member, the Honorable PETE VISCLOSKY. It is in large part due to his efforts that we present a bill that merits the support of all Members of the House.

   Mr. Chairman, I urge all Members to support H.R. 4733 as reported by the Committee on Appropriations, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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   Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

   Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

   Mr. Chairman, I would begin by also commending the gentleman from California (Chairman PACKARD) and would point out to every Member of the body in this institution that this will be the last Energy and Water bill that the gentleman will bring to the House floor during his tenure as a Member of Congress, given the fact that he will now retire after the 106th Congress.

   Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from California is a very decent man. He is a God-fearing man whose family is the most important thing in his life, his wife, Jean, as well as his seven children. Clearly as important to him is his country. And whether it was his service in defense of this country as a member of the United States Navy; whether it was his service as a member of a school board ensuring that the youth of his community receive the best education possible for their future; whether it be as the mayor and chief executive of his local community or his years of service in this Congress, I certainly respect the gentleman's three great passions in life.

   

[Time: 15:30]

   But I would be remiss, as I would have been remiss in full committee, Mr. Chairman, if I did not mention for one moment the other great passion in life of the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD), and that is golf. For those who do not yet know the good work, the foursome of the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD) did win the recent Bob Michael's, Founder, Golf Tournament with the lowest team score.

   I salute the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD). He has been a gentleman, a friend, and we will all miss him.

   I also want to add my thanks, my deepest thanks as a former staff member myself, to all of the staff involved on both sides of the aisle, whether they be professional committee staff, detailees, or associate staff.

   But today, because this is the last bill of the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD), I would also point out to the House, this is John McNutt's last bill. He is my associate staff member and has been for the last 7 years 6 months and 27 days, not that we are counting.

   But as I pointed out in my previous remarks before the full committee, Mr. McNutt is moving on with his life. He is going to be attending the University of Virginia Law School and made the wise choice, from an academic consideration, when he had the option of going to either UVA or the University of Notre Dame, that he chose Virginia. I do wish him well in his endeavor.

   I would advise all of the Members that I do support this bill. I do believe that the gentleman from California (Mr. PACKARD) has done the best job humanly possible with this bill given the allocations the subcommittee had.

   But I would note that I for one did not vote for the budget resolution adopted by this institution, and I did not vote for the allocations adopted by the committee and have not agreed with the allocation we were given.

   On the civilian side particularly of the legislation, it gives us great trouble. The fact is we are $210 million today under a freeze level for civilian purposes. Let me note for the Members of this Chamber several problems that it causes.

   In the area of water projects, and there is hardly a Member in this institution who does not have a problem one way or the other with water in their district, the spending this year, while $60 million over the President's request, is $6 million under a freeze. Given the fact that the Corps today has responsibilities of over 400 multipurpose reservoirs, 12,000 miles of navigation channels, hundreds of ports, and 11.6 million acres of land, we fall woefully short.


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