Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise to praise the ranking member and the chairman of the committee on the great job they have done on this legislation. I have worked for years with Senator Murkowski. She is a real trooper and has done a great job for our country and for her State of Alaska. Senator Cantwell of Washington is the same. I am pleased to work with them on this particular legislation, which I support today.

I am rising to talk for a minute about an amendment Senator Bennet of Colorado and I will be offering to the bill at the appropriate time called the SAVE Act.

The SAVE Act is a way to encourage people to finance and include in the purchase of a new home the right types of energy efficiency additions to that home, which will lower the cost of energy to the home, improve the rate of consumption of energy in the home, and make it easier for people to afford energy-saving R-factors for insulation, Thermopane for doors and windows, and other treatments they need to reduce costs.

I spent 33 years in residential real estate. I don't know much about anything, but I know a lot about people buying houses and about housing laws and about financing, and I know this: For the entry-level borrower--and this addresses only FHA loans--the most important thing to have the right type of energy efficiency is to be able to afford it, and the best way to be able to afford it is to be able to finance it. If you don't allow the incorporation of the value of the additional cost of the additional R-factor for insulation or Thermopane factor for windows and doors, then people don't end up choosing energy efficiency; they choose less efficient houses which last for 30 or 40 years and burn more energy in their lifetime than they would have if we had not had a way to incentivize people to incorporate energy efficiency into the purchase of their new home.

So my story is very simple. We are here today to encourage energy efficiency, encourage savings on energy, and encourage people to focus on energy, to be a more energy-independent country. The best way to do that is to make sure we take the mechanisms of purchase--being the FHA loan in this case--and incorporate and consider for financial value purposes, for the appraisal and for the loan-to-value ratio and for qualification purposes, the savings of the R-factor improvements, Thermopane improvements, and other energy efficiency improvements put in.

At the appropriate time--sometime today--I will ask the chairman to recognize me to set aside the pending amendment and make this amendment pending, but until that time, I wanted to come to the floor to let Members know we have an outstanding piece of legislation which scores at zero in terms of costs, applies only to FHA loans, encourages energy efficiency, and allows people to afford to build it into the financing of the purchase of a house. It is a win-win-win. I am proud to work with Senator Bennet on this legislation.

I appreciate being recognized by the Chair.

Mr. President, I yield to the minority whip.

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