November 18, 2003 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H11405 railroads; and airport and seaport rehabilita- portation issues and Homeland Security artificial impediments to domestic oil tion. Of vital importance is the Corp’s work needs. and gas exploration and development. with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the I am grateful for the continued Federal as- That is also why the bill takes a 21st- U.S. State Department, and U.S. engineering sistance that Sacramento has received century approach to energy by invest- societies that help Iraqi engineers gain knowl- throughout the years to bring us to this mo- ing literally billions of dollars into re- edge lost during the last 30 years. ment. That commitment is evident in this bill search and technology to promote non- Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support this and will ensure that those living and working conventional sources of power. conference report and urge my colleagues to in the region will be kept out of harm’s way. I am pleased, in particular, that we do the same. Mr. HOBSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield have followed through on President Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in back the balance of my time, and I Bush’s request to fund the FreedomCar support of the Conference Report on H.R. move the previous question on the con- initiative. If hydrogen cars are the 2754, the Energy and Water Development Ap- ference report. wave of the future, and they may well propriations Act for fiscal year 2004. As this The previous question was ordered. be, then 20 or 30 years from now, people Congress is well aware, my district of Sac- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The will look back on the investments we ramento, CA, is the most at-risk river city in question is on the conference report. make in this conference report as the the Nation. Situated at the confluence of the Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the genesis for zero-emission, highly effi- American and Sacramento Rivers, Sac- yeas and nays are ordered. cient vehicles. We also make enormous ramento has narrowly escaped certain disaster Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, fur- strides in the area of conservation and twice over the last two decades. My number ther proceedings on this question will efficiency. Indeed, according to the one priority as a Member of this body has al- be postponed. American Council on an Energy Effi- cient Economy, the provisions of this ways been to put an end to this grave public f safety risk and to provide my constituents with bill in these areas will eliminate the CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 6, need for 294 new 300-megawatt elec- the flood protection they both need and de- ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2003 serve. I am happy to say this bill will do just tricity plants by the year 2020. That is that. In fact, in the eyes of Sacramento, the Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant real conservation. Next, Mr. Speaker, the conference re- passage of this bill is an historic moment. to House Resolution 443, I call up the port is about energy reliability. We can A major flood along the American River conference report on the bill (H.R. 6) to have all of the oil, natural gas, coal, would cripple this economy, causing between enhance energy conservation and re- and renewable energy in the world; but $7 and $16 billion in direct property damages search and development, to provide for it does not do us any good if we cannot and likely result in significant loss of life. The security and diversity in the energy get the energy to America’s families Sacramento floodplain is home to half-a-mil- supply for the American people, and for and businesses. Two years ago, we wit- lion people, 5,000 businesses providing other purposes. nessed rolling blackouts in California. 200,000 jobs, 160,000 homes, 1,300 govern- The Clerk read the title of the bill. And, of course, just 3 months ago, we ment facilities including the State Capital, over The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. saw some 50 million Americans in 100 schools, six major hospitals, 26 nursing LAHOOD). Pursuant to House Resolu- tion 443, the conference report is con- much of the Northeast and Midwest homes, three major freeways systems, and a crippled by power failures that could regional economy that supports over one mil- sidered as having been read. (For conference report and state- cost the economy billions and billions lion people. of dollars. These blackouts are intoler- For almost as long as Sacramento has been ment, see proceedings of the House of able in the year 2003. We simply cannot at risk of a catastrophic flood, there has been November 17, 2003, Book II.) permit this. And so we have adopted a dispute over how to resolve the issue. Ear- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gen- consensus-based reliability standards lier this year, my colleague JOHN DOOLITTLE tleman from Louisiana (Mr. TAUZIN) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. that have been negotiated over the and I reached an agreement that moves for- past several years. ward the two most pressing issues for North- DINGELL) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman We have included transmission incen- ern California: flood control and water supply. tives to build new transmission sys- from Louisiana (Mr. TAUZIN). This bill contains that agreement and success- tems. We have new provisions on siting fully addresses both of those issues for the in- GENERAL LEAVE to make sure we can improve trans- definite future. Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask mission facilities. And we have elimi- I would like to take a moment and recognize unanimous consent that all Members nated artificial barriers to new invest- the tremendous efforts that have made this may have 5 legislative days within ment in the electricity grid by repeal- possible. Without the leadership of Chairman which to revise and extend their re- ing the old Public Utility Holding HOBSON and Ranking Member VISCLOSKY of marks and insert extraneous material Company Act. In short, when the provi- the Energy and Water Appropriations Sub- into the RECORD on H.R. 6. sions of H.R. 6 are fully deployed in the committee and Chairman YOUNG and Ranking The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there marketplace, the American people will Member OBERSTAR of the Transportation and objection to the request of the gen- be able to count on a stronger, more re- Infrastructure Committee Sacramento would tleman from Louisiana? liable electricity system. still be fighting for incremental flood control There was no objection. Finally, H.R. 6 is about jobs. We esti- projects. Their recognition of Sacramento’s Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield mate this conference report will create dire flood control situation advanced this solu- myself 4 minutes. upwards of 800,000 new jobs, not to tion. On behalf of my constituents, thank you. Mr. Speaker, there may be no other mention preserving valuable jobs in More specifically, this bill provides for the bill the House considers this year or manufacturing, construction, agri- construction of the Folsom Dam Mini-Raise. next that will benefit America more culture, and technology that are frank- This is the crowning project in a series of vital than H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of ly being lost today because of the high flood control improvements and surpasses the 2003. Let me tell my colleagues what energy prices in our society. Here is region’s long held goal of reaching 200-year this conference report is about. It is how: the construction of the new Alas- level protection. By raising the existing Folsom about America’s energy security, ka natural gas pipeline will create Dam seven feet, Sacramento’s flood control America’s energy reliability, and it is some 400,000 direct and indirect jobs. system will be able to weather a storm 50 per- about American jobs. Investment in clean coal technologies cent larger than anything in the recorded his- First, Mr. Speaker, apart from home- will create 40,000 new jobs and 10,000 tory of the watershed. In addition, the project land security and defense appropria- white collar jobs in math, engineering, provides a new permanent bridge to replace tions, this bill will do more for the se- physics, and science. The new renew- the Folsom Dam Road, which was closed in curity of our country than any legisla- able fuel standard could create as February due to security concerns, and for tion that we will consider in a long many as 214,000 new jobs alone. Incen- ecosystem restoration on the lower American time. The Middle East remains one of tives for the solar industry will create River. Congressional approval of the Mini- the most dangerous corners of the 20,000 new jobs. Raise benefits the entire Sacramento region, world, and our heavy dependence upon Mr. Speaker, the list goes on and on. by addressing not only the area’s flood control oil from that region simply cannot con- The point is that through a combina- needs, but also ecosystem restoration, trans- tinue. That is why H.R. 6 removes the tion of removing barriers to energy VerDate jul 14 2003 02:27 Nov 20, 2003 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A18NO7.027 H18PT2 H11406 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE November 18, 2003 production and making sound, enlight- being spent for education, health care, We need an energy policy for 2003, ened developments in America’s energy or for our Nation’s veterans.