Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007
TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - June 13, 2006)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. BEAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that would increase funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Operations and Research account by $6.7 million. The amendment offsets this increase by decreasing $2.7 million in funding from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and $4 million from transportation planning and research account.
The intent of my amendment is to direct the Office of Fuel Economy to use these funds to assess how to best incentivize the auto industry to increase corporate average fuel economy, CAFE, standards by the year 2015. It is my hope that this will accelerate adoption of increased fuel efficiency standards by having the office considering options like tax credits to retooling their manufacturing processes for production of more fuel efficient vehicles. This would provide manufacturers with an economically viable way to increase fuel economy for passenger cars and light trucks.
Particularly in suburban districts like mine, families are plagued by heavy traffic and congestion and are burdened by the price of gasoline. The high gas prices we are facing today can only be addressed by a serious, long-term effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
By voting for my amendment, we can give the Office of Fuel Economy the resources necessary to start providing solutions on the demand side of the energy equation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. BEAN. Mr. Chairman, the American people are looking to Congress for leadership in addressing rising energy costs. In the last few weeks, different proposals for increasing our energy supply have come before us. However, few proposals have been offered to address the demand side of the energy equation.
For too long, Congress has allowed a stalemate on innovation and fuel efficiency. This amendment does not mandate increases but, instead, funds research into options.
My amendment gives this Congress an opportunity to strike a balance between keeping auto makers competitive, by addressing the economic impact on them, with the pressing needs of American drivers, because both manufacturers and consumers are looking for an economically viable solution toward the advancement in the fuel efficiency of the cars and trucks we drive.
Let us help the Office of Fuel Economy facilitate public/private partnership solutions to meet the energy demand challenges our Nation is facing.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Source