Senate Proceeding 03-09-11 on Mar 9th, 2011 :: 0:56:30 to 1:06:40
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0:56:21 to 0:56:42( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: these have been approved by the majority and the minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i'd ask consent to speak for up to ten minutes as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i

0:56:30 to 1:06:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jeff Bingaman

0:56:43 to 0:57:03( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: rise today to talk about the damage that would be done if h.r. 1 were to become law and, specifically, to talk about a few areas that i have been paying particular attention to: science and technology, for one;

0:57:04 to 0:57:24( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: particularly related to energy, energy policy; second, border security and law enforcement; and also education. to me, this is not a question of whether there should be cuts in our federal budget. clearly, there should be cuts.

0:57:25 to 0:57:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: but the real issue here is whether we should be smart about where we make those cuts. to me, it's clear that h.r. 1 does not represent smart policy about where to make those cuts. it helps a plan to mindlessly cut funding during the remaining five months of the current fiscal year in order to send

0:57:47 to 0:58:08( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: some kind of message to the world that we are serious about deficit reduction. and my -- in my view, h.r. 1 sends a message, but it is not the right message. the message it says sends is that we in fact are not willing to look at serious deficit reduction at this point. the first area of cuts that i

0:58:09 to 0:58:29( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: wanted to talk about that are contained in h.r. 1 that will severely impact our nation for years to come and have an effect on how many jobs we can actually create, that is the area of science and energy innovation. last december this congress

0:58:30 to 0:58:50( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: passed a reauthorization of what we call the america competes afnlcompete act.and i was privileged to work with my colleague from tennessee, senator alexander, on helping get that legislation enacted. its purpose was to authorize funding for the department of

0:58:51 to 0:59:11( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: energy's office of science, for the national consigns foundation, and -- national consigns foundation and for the national institutes of standards and technology, for the next three years so that by fiscal year 2016 we would have completed a ten-year doubling of the funding for those agencies. i'd like to note that this

0:59:12 to 0:59:32( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: effort was first started during the bush administration. it has been carried forward during this current administration. under president obama, the effort has enjoyed strong, bipartisan support and garnered endorsements from leading industry groups such as the u.s. chamber of commerce, the business round table, counsel on

0:59:33 to 0:59:56( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: competitive -- council on competitiveness. these organizations recognize that the future of our nation depends on the strong scientific back sph bone that -- backbone that we need for our workforce in order to outinnovate our competitors around the world. so it comes as a surprise to notice see large cuts being

0:59:57 to 1:00:18( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: proposed by the house of representatives in their fiscal year 2011 funding bill to the very programs that all of us seemed to agree are needed to keep us competive in the years ahead. what cuts am i talking about? let me give an example. one example is in the office of science.

1:00:19 to 1:00:40( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: this is the nation's largest supporter of physical sciences and these are the very areas by which we intend to supply a new stream of scientists and engineers to companies such as intel and ford motor company and many others. the house bill proposes to cut the office of science budget by

1:00:41 to 1:01:02( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: $1.1 billion or 22%. the result is an estimated reduction of 4,500 full-time scientists and engineers working on basic endeavors in the area of energy science. it will terminate the early career research program for young faculty and ongoing

1:01:03 to 1:01:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: graduate programs in the energy sciences. national user facilities that the office of science runs for upwards of 27,000 researchers from industry and academia will be shuttered or put into a standby status. this includes the four nano science centers across the

1:01:26 to 1:01:47( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: united states that have had breakthrough discoveries to propel our industries forward in the areas of solid state lighting and new drugs and microelectronics. let me talk about some of the other programs impacted in the department of energy. the office nuclear energy.

1:01:48 to 1:02:10( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: this is leading the way to a new generation of smaller, less costly reactors at places such as oak ridge and idaho national laboratories. this effort will suffer. the ability to move this bipartisan program forward will cease. in the office energy efficiency

1:02:11 to 1:02:31( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: and renewable energy, eer&e, as it's referred to in the department. the house bill will result in over 31,000 homes that will not be weatherized, and, by july 1, it is estimated that something like 8,000 people who are expected to perform this work will be out of jobs. the program to mix coal with

1:02:32 to 1:02:52( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: biomass -- this is a program that shows great promise -- will be eliminated, as will programs to fund offshore wind. let me cite some other examples of the damage the house bill will have on other agencies in the competes act. the national science foundation

1:02:53 to 1:03:14( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: will have reductions leading to a loss of 10,000 university researchers and graduate students. being so late in the year -- and i indicated we've got about five months left in this fiscal yea year -- the effect will to be reduce the program to train teachers in math and science by 53% at a time when it is widely

1:03:15 to 1:03:36( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: recognized that other nations are outperforming us in student test scores in these subjects. mr. president, i'd like to enter into the record two letters, the first by the council on competitiveness, signed by sam allen, who's chairman and c.e.o. of the deer company, mike splinter, chairman and c.e.o. of

1:03:37 to 1:03:57( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: applied materials, chad holloday, chairman of the bank of america, william hite, president of the united association of plumbers and pipe fitters, and deborah wynn smith, the president of the c.e.o. counsel. the letter succinctly stated that -- quote -- "scientific researchers and skilled workers

1:03:58 to 1:04:20( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: are the basis for new ideas, new technologies, new products and services, new companies, even entirely new industries. the american economy cannot compete and grow if we neglect our capacity to innovate." the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bingaman: thank you, mr. president. the other letter is from 175 universities, industries, and laboratories, including the u.s.

1:04:21 to 1:04:43( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: chamber of commerce, and it supports the goals outlined in the america competes act and asks that -- and it goes on to ask the congress to reject the cuts adopted by the house funding bill. i would ask that that second letter also be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection.

1:04:44 to 1:05:04( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: mr. bingaman: let me move to the issue of homeland security. over the last several years, we've had a lot of speeches here in the senate about the need to bolster border security, particularly along the southern border. enhanced homeland security capabilities -- enhance homeland security capabilities. unfortunately, the budget the house has presented falls short

1:05:05 to 1:05:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: in this respect. the continuing resolution would severe impact the capabilities of the department of homeland security and reduce essential assistance that is provided to organizations at the state and local level. the legislation would be a step back in terms of the progress that we are making in securing

1:05:26 to 1:05:46( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: our border and ensuring that the communities and law enforcement agencies along the border have the necessary resources to handle crime and to respond to disasters. with regard to border security, the house continuing resolution would reduce planned technological, fencing and

1:05:47 to 1:06:10( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: security improvements along the southwest worried about. the legislation would introduce interoperable -- would reduce interoperable communications, it would reduce communication modernization efforts for 50%, making it more difficult for law enforcement to respond to emergencies in a timely way. the house pill woul -- the house bill would also

1:06:11 to 1:06:33( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: provide funding for 20,500 border patrol agents rather than 291,370 that is -- 21,370 that is senate is proposing to fund. this cutback in border patrol agents i think is -- is shortsighted. the measure would also severely impact aviation security initiatives, the number of advanced imaging technology

1:06:34 to 1:06:41( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: screening machines, the canine teams, the explosive detection machines would also be slashed