ADVANCED GEOTHERMAL INNOVATION LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I modify the substitute amendment No. 1407, with the changes at the desk. For the information of the Senate, this modification includes, among other things, acceptance of amendment No. 1419 offered by the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. McConnell, for the Senator from Iowa, Ms. Ernst.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I appreciate the strong vote that we had yesterday, 90 to 4, to advance and continue debate on S. 2657.

Just after that vote was concluded, I laid down a substitute amendment that contains the full text of the bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act. Having done that, we would normally begin the process of voting on amendments, whether by voice or by rollcall in this so- called regular order. We certainly have no shortage of options. We have some 200 amendments that have now been filed to the bill. What we are missing is a little bit of cooperation so that we can actually reach consent and move to votes.

We could not reach agreement to have votes throughout the course of this week from Monday until, effectively, now. It has been frustrating. Both Senator Manchin and I have been working to try to facilitate that. We want to take amendments. The leader wants us to take amendments. We have a good bill. We think we have a pretty strong bill, but we know that it is always possible to make it better by gathering those ideas from colleagues who have not been part of the process on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. We want to address those priorities from as many Members as we can.

While we were blocked on votes this week, our staffs have been working together--Senator Manchin's and mine--to develop a modified substitute that will add to the original text. We now have a total of 18 filed amendments that will be included as part of the underlying text. We have been working this week--maybe not actively out on the floor with a process where folks are voting--but we have been able to take some of these consensus areas, bring them together, and put them into a modified text.

This is not my preferred approach. If we could do it the good old- fashioned way, if you will, through individual votes or a managers' amendment--a managers' package--that is great. But a modified substitute was the only option that was available to us, recognizing that we have limited time on the floor, and we were still not able to form that path forward.

I want to speak quickly about what is very much a highlight. Our modified substitute includes an even number of priorities from both sides, some with amendments, some with modifications. We have been able to take provisions from the Senator from Arizona, the Senator from Rhode Island, Senator Ernst of Iowa, Feinstein of California, Tillis of North Carolina, from New Hampshire, South Dakota, Senator Hassan, Senator Shaheen, Senator Enzi of Wyoming, Duckworth of Illinois, Cramer of North Dakota, Casey of Pennsylvania, Romney of Utah, Brown of Ohio, Wicker of Mississippi, Stabenow of Michigan, Risch of Idaho, Senator Markey of Massachusetts--18 different provisions, which added to what we had done previously.

We have priorities from nearly 70 Members of the Senate. That makes a good, strong bipartisan bill even better and stronger.

We now need to move to our final steps. Just a bit ago, the majority leader filed cloture on our modified substitute amendment, which will allow us to hold that vote on Monday evening. As we look to complete our work on this bipartisan innovation package, know that we are going to be doing that throughout today, tomorrow, and through the weekend.

I want to address very quickly now some of the support that the American Energy Innovation Act has received. We have focused on the priorities that it contains for Members here in the Senate, but we have also drawn strong support from many stakeholders outside. A group of 39 major trade associations, think tanks, advocacy groups, and environmental groups wrote us to express their strong support for our energy innovation package. The signatories include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Nature Conservancy--just to name a few of the many.

Here are some of the comments that we have heard.

They wrote:

Our diverse organizations recognize and agree that climate change is an important national priority that demands Congressional attention. While we may not agree on everything, we believe there is much common ground upon which all sides of the debate can come together to begin to address climate change, promote American technological leadership, and foster continued economic growth. In particular, there is a growing consensus that the development and commercialization of new technologies are important factors that will determine how quickly and at what cost greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced.

The American Energy Innovation Act will help do just that . . . [It] will accelerate these breakthroughs and enable adoption of lower emitting and more efficient technologies . . . Congress now has its best opportunity in more than a decade to enact significant energy legislation.

That is a pretty strong statement from those organizations.

The National Mining Association wrote to us, whose members understand as well as anyone that clean technologies rely on raw materials.

It wrote: ``This forward-looking legislation takes steps to address the nation's alarming mineral import reliance and brings the United States to the forefront of research and development efforts in carbon capture technologies.''

The Consumer Energy Alliance wrote that our American Energy Innovation Act ``provides opportunities to make real progress on the energy issues and environmental protections that all Americans support.''

The Bipartisan Policy Center wrote that our bill is ``a landmark piece of legislation representing a down payment on the innovation necessary to decarbonize our energy sector and modernize our nation's energy policies.''

The Business Council for Sustainable Energy wrote: ``The bipartisan introduction of the American Energy Innovation Act demonstrates Congress' commitment to innovation in the U.S. energy sector.''

All told, we have received support from more than 200 groups, companies, and organizations for this legislation. These are groups that are really involved in keeping the lights on in big cities, in small communities, and all across the Nation. These involve folks from Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

These are groups whose members are working to keep energy affordable, like the American Petroleum Institute and the National Ocean Industries Association. We appreciate all of them--ClearPath Action, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, the Corps Network, the American Wind Energy Association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Clean Air Task Force, Third Way, the Energy Storage Association, and so many more that have contacted us and have shared their support.

We are hearing a lot from Alaskans as well. As the Alaska Power Association wrote in a letter we received this week:

APA and our member electric utilities throughout the State reiterate our support for the many energy law modernization elements that comprise your American Energy Innovation Act . . . AEIA will help Alaska's far-flung electricity providers and their consumers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute wrote: ``We urge the Senate to seize this opportunity to fuel American innovation and promote climate action by passing this legislation without delay.''

Those are some pretty good words coming from them. We certainly would agree.

We had an opportunity this morning, in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to hear from the head of the IEA, the International Energy Agency, which is based out of Paris, France. Dr. Fatih Birol heads up the member countries that are part of the IEA, and they track trends in energy markets. We do an annual update with Dr. Birol, and, as usual, his words were important, telling, and resounding.

As we reflect on what Dr. Birol highlighted as areas of opportunity for the United States to be a global energy leader, what we have put in the American Energy Innovation Act is exactly the recipe that we should be pursuing to continue being a leader in the energy sector, to being a strong leader from an economic perspective, and to being a strong leader in energy security, in national security, and in environmental security.

We are doing the right thing, and we have it within this legislation. We will be moving forward more aggressively with it next week so that we can get to a good and positive conclusion for the Senate and for the country.

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