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“ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE JANUARY-MARCH, 2007” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E730 on March 30, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
JANUARY-MARCH, 2007
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HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR
of minnesota
in the house of representatives
Friday, March 30, 2007
Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, when you accepted the gavel, you pledged that the House under your Leadership would waste no time in addressing the pressing needs facing our nation. Your legislative initiative for the first 100 hours of the new Congress proved that you meant what you said.
In those first 100 hours, the House passed six major bills, including legislation to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, raise the minimum wage, and help older Americans afford prescription drugs, and help their grandchildren obtain student loans. It also adopted Rules to help restore the people's trust in this Chamber.
In those hours, Madam Speaker, you showed America that you were going to waste no time in getting important things done for this country. I thank you and the Majority Leader, Mr. Hoyer, for your tireless efforts.
In that spirit, I would like to call your attention the accomplishments of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which I am honored to chair.
Since the Committee held its organizational meeting January 17, our Committee has met 34 times in full or Subcommittee session. We have held 28 hearings, including two field hearings. In the first three months of 2007, we have met for nearly 80 hours, and gathered testimony from 165 witnesses. The Committee has initiated a series of hearings on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, which must be completed this year, and begun the hard work of considering the myriad issues of reauthorizing the highway, transit, and highway safety programs in 2009. We have begun to restore vigorous oversight to the programs, policies, and agencies in the jurisdiction of our Committee that is critical to ensuring that our transportation and infrastructure laws implemented effectively and efficiently.
The Committee has held seven markups, including three Subcommittee markups and four Full Committee markups. The Committee has acted on 29 bills, including 24 bills that have passed the House--each with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Among the many Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure bills, the House has passed:
H.R. 720, a bill to authorize $14 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Funds and provide the necessary resources to help States address their critical wastewater infrastructure needs;
H.R. 569, a bill to authorize $1.7 billion for States and communities to control combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows to address public health and safety and environmental concerns with such overflows;
H.R. 802, a bill to reduce air emissions from maritime vessels and implement Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships;
H.R. 1195, a bill to make technical corrections to the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users; and
H.R. 798, a bill to direct the Administrator of General Services to install a photovoltaic system on the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Senate has passed four of the 24 House-passed Committee bills and the President has signed each one.
Madam Speaker, such success cannot be accomplished without incredible effort and I thank each of our Committee Members, particularly Ranking Member Mica and the Subcommittee Chairs and Ranking Members, for their enormous bipartisan efforts to carry out the agenda of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
It also cannot be accomplished without a talented, dedicated staff, and I would like to recognize each one by name:
Staff Director David Heymsfeld, Chief Counsel Ward McCarragher, and Administrator Dara Schlieker. Also in the front office: Jimmy Miller, Sharon Barkeloo, Helena Zyblikewycz, Jennifer Walsh, Erik Hansen, Keelin Haddix, Elisa Yi, and Mike Obrock.
Our Communications staff: Jim Berard, Mary Kerr, and Julie Carpenter Lotz.
On the staff of our Subcommittee on Aviation: Stacie Soumbeniotis, Giles Giovinazzi, Jana Denning, Christa Fomarotto, and Pam Keller.
The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation: John Cullather, Richard Hiscock, Lucinda Lessley, and lanta Summers.
The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management: Susan Brita, Mike Herman, Elliot Doomes, and Alexis Barrios.
The Subcommittee on Highways and Transit: Jim Kolb, Art Chan, Amy Scarton, Jackie Schmitz, Kathy Dedrick, and Peter Gould.
The Oversight and Investigations staff: Trinita Brown, Clay Foushee, Leila Kahn, and Laurie Bertenthal.
The Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials: Jennifer Esposito, John Drake, Niels Knutson, Nick Martinelli, and Rose Hamlin.
The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment: Ryan Seiger, Ted Illston, Ben Webster, Beth Goldstein, Rod Hall, and Mike Brain.
The Editorial staff: Tracy Mosebey and Gilda Shirley; and our Information Systems team: Keven Sard and Scott Putz.
Madam Speaker, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has a history of bipartisan cooperation, and our Committee staff on the other side of the aisle share in our success this year. I thank Chief of Staff Jim Coon, Counsel Charles Ziegler, Policy Director Fraser Verrusio, and the rest of the Minority staff for their hard work and cooperation.
The Committee has no plans to slow down. We are hopeful that the House will consider H.R. 1495, the ``Water Resources Development Act of 2007'', in the coming weeks. We have scheduled 11 hearings and 2 markups for late April and early May. We are just hitting stride.
Madam Speaker, in the words of Vaudeville entertainer Al Jolson,
``You ain't seen nothin' yet!''
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