Helium Stewardship Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I too rise in strong support today of this legislation. I also want to extend my thanks to Chairman Hastings, to Mr. Holt, to Ranking Member DeFazio, and the former ranking member, Senator Markey, all for their leadership, as well as our friends in the Senate, Senators Wyden and Murkowski. This is truly an example of a good bipartisan piece of legislation done in a bicameral manner. I think we can all take pride in the fact that Congress can actually get things done when we put our minds to it.

While I had some reservations regarding the initial House bill, due to some potential issues of potential contract violations, this bill before us, H.R. 527, fairly addresses those concerns. I tried to address those concerns in the previous bill. I also want to thank Ms. Esty and Mr. Higgins from New York for their strong support in that effort.

Again, passing this legislation will ensure continued access to the Nation's helium supply for American businesses and researchers. As has been stated, if no action is taken before October 1, the Bureau of Land Management will be forced to shutter the Federal Helium Reserve, putting at risk thousands of jobs of hardworking Americans, particularly those in the manufacturing sector.

A steady supply of helium is absolutely essential in manufacturing items such as MRI scanners, computer chips, and fiber optic cables. We need to make sure that we can continue in those pursuits.

Also, it is important to many refiners, like in my district Air Products and Chemicals, in Ms. Esty's district Praxair, Linde and others, who are also very much involved with making sure this helium gets to the marketplace and to the end users.

Today's action will ensure that these advanced and high-tech manufacturers will not lose access to over one-third of the global supply of helium at a time when a helium shortage is already in place.

Again, I want to say thanks to everybody involved--Mr. Holt and Mr. Hastings--for their patience for listening and for coming up with a very good solution to a very important problem.

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