No More Solyndras Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chair, today, I am voting in favor of H.R. 6213. First and foremost, the American taxpayer should not take a backseat to venture capitalists. This bill ensures that any loan default falls first on the company's investors and remaining assets instead of on the taxpayer.

The Department of Energy's loan guarantee program needs better oversight to protect taxpayers from the financial risks of emerging technologies in a competitive and volatile energy market.

I am also concerned that the loan guarantee program, which was created under the Bush administration in 2005, heavily favors thermal industries--including coal. This money would be better spent on innovative, cutting-edge technologies that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, and make the United States more energy independent.

Limited federal dollars should go to creating high-wage, high-tech jobs that can't be exported--they should not be used to subsidize the largest energy companies that have benefited from billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies and decades of federal support.

That's why I am also voting for Representative Waxman's amendment. H.R. 6213 allows DOE to use its existing authority to award $34 billion in loan guarantees to projects on the Republican-deemed ``winners' list.'' This is a list of 50 or so applications that were submitted to DOE prior to the end of 2011. More than three-quarters of the applications are from the nuclear and coal industries.

By voting in favor of Representative Waxman's amendment, I support allowing DOE to consider new applications until the remaining loan guarantee dollars are exhausted. This will create a level playing field for all technologies including renewables like wind, solar, and biomass.

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