Rural Energy Savings Program Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLYBURN. I thank my friend, Chairman HOLDEN, for yielding me the time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4785, the Rural Energy Savings Program Act. Mr. Chairman, the Rural Energy Savings Program, or Rural Star, as it is popularly called, is an important piece of the Make It in America agenda. It is a program that will create jobs and help save families money on their energy bills.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called our 50 States ``laboratories of democracy.'' And that is certainly the case with this homegrown, American-owned idea. The rural electric co-ops in South Carolina brought this idea to my attention late last year. And I worked with them and my colleague Congressman JOHN SPRATT to craft legislation that takes the South Carolina model nationwide. I am very proud that South Carolina is providing significant leadership for our economic recovery with this innovative approach to job creation and energy savings.

The concept is very simple: low-cost home improvement loans for energy-efficient upgrades, sealing, insulation,

HVAC systems, heat pumps, and other structural improvements. Those low-cost loans are paid back on customers' electricity bills, with the energy savings covering the cost of the loan.

When the term of the loan expires, most people will be saving hundreds of dollars annually on their monthly utility bills.

This bipartisan, bicameral legislation is first and foremost a jobs bill, and it is based on commonsense ideas that can be done in a fiscally responsible manner that will protect taxpayers and the Treasury. Let me emphasize that this is a voluntary loan program, not a grant or rebate; and the loans are paid back to the Federal Treasury.

We call this the Rural Energy Savings Program because it will save consumers energy and money. More importantly, it will put people back to work, particularly in the building and construction trades and manufacturing industries, sectors that have been hard hit by the economic down-turn.

While providing energy upgrades and significant employment opportunities for building and construction workers, this legislation will boost domestic manufacturing. Retailers of energy-efficient building materials and appliances will also benefit from increased sales. Virtually all of the energy-efficient products and materials used for energy efficiency improvements are made in America.

Rural Star has the support of a broad coalition of stakeholders, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Home Builders, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Rural Star will create high-skill, high-wage manufacturing and construction jobs and deliver meaningful energy savings for consumers that will put money directly into their wallets.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill. Let's create jobs that are made in America so that our fellow citizens can ``Make It in America.''

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