Supplemental Appropriations, Fiscal Year 2009
SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS, FISCAL YEAR 2009 -- (House of Representatives - July 31, 2009)
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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his very important and swift action to address the opportunity that was given to us this week.
As you know, my colleagues, as part of the supplemental earlier this year, the Cash for Clunkers provision was provided in it. Many people had worked very, very hard on that for a long time, and we were able to have it pass on a bill that was going to be signed by the President.
I want to acknowledge Congresswoman Sutton for her enthusiastic support and leadership; Congressman Inslee and Congressman Israel of New York, who all worked very hard on this; certainly the chairman emeritus of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Dingell; the current chairman, Mr. Waxman; and Mr. Markey as Chair of the Select Committee on Global Warming for his leadership on this issue for a long period of time.
I mention all of them because this brings together so many elements of what we want to do to grow our economy, to help our workers, to protect our environment, and to do so in a very focused way that works, and that's what is interesting about this week.
In about 6 days, it is estimated that 250,000 cars were sold. On both sides of the aisle, people acknowledge the effectiveness of this initiative, and that is why yesterday--and as we were seeing what was happening this week--the Obama administration asked us to help consumers who have yet to have the opportunity to take advantage of trading in their old cars for new energy-efficient models. When they do that, again, they strengthen the auto industry, strengthen our economy at large and help preserve our environment.
What's interesting about it, and the point that has been made by many speakers already, is just that everything has performed beyond the requirements of the bill. The cars that have been purchased are much more fuel-efficient and the emissions standard much better than the bill even required, and that's good news.
I do share the concern that has been put forth by Mr. Markey--and I don't know if Mr. Inslee has yet, but he will--about the source of the revenue, and that is the Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program.
In the recovery package in January, we voted for a $6 billion initiative. It was very important to have it at that level, and it's very important in terms of our renewables program--$6 billion--but the administration has just released a solicitation for about half of that money, for $3 billion in loans for renewable energy. The rest of the money would not be released until next year, until after January. So that gave us an opportunity, for the time being, to use $2 billion of that for this Cash for Clunkers expansion.
Again, I am concerned about the fact that that money is taken from that account, but it has not cost any opportunities for the program, because the timing is such that that money would be spent next year.
I do hope, whether it's in the continuing resolution or some other step along the way, that those funds will be restored, because it's not appropriate for us to take money to do one thing for fuel efficiency out of an account that is designed to do just that in looking into the future with further innovation. So I share the concerns expressed by Mr. Markey, and I appreciate the comments made by Mr. Obey in the colloquy that they had about restoring those funds.
But, again, I think this is a pretty exciting day. As I said, we got the word just as this news was unfolding this week. Yesterday, it was determined that we could go forward. The Rules Committee under Congresswoman Slaughter responded very positively. The chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Obey, has been trying to find solutions for us, and the leadership of the Republican Party has been very cooperative in how we could bring the bill to the floor.
So this is a very positive, bipartisan initiative to help our auto industry, to help consumers grow our economy and to do it in an environmentally sound way. I think it is the perfect message for us to take home for August.
Thank you all for your leadership in making this possible.
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