New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection act

Floor Speech

NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT -- (House of Representatives - August 04, 2007)

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Chairman, it is my hope that we won't have to use the entire 5 minutes in the interest of time.

This is a simple but commonsense amendment to this bill, because it will require of Members of this body to do the exact same thing that we are requiring of Federal agencies, and that is for any Member who is using his or her Members' Representational Allowance to lease an automobile, that they would be required to lease the exact same kinds of vehicles, those that are alternative fuels when available, that we are requiring of Federal agencies.

This amendment is designed for a demonstration to the public that we are serious about energy independence and that we are also going to lead by example.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Chairman, there are about 100 Members of the United States Congress who lease automobiles. And we are requiring, as of 1997, through a mandate from President Clinton, that all vehicles operating under the aegis of the General Services Administration operate with flex-fuel vehicles.

So what we are saying here is that we are willing to require that Federal agencies change their fleets, but that we are not willing to change our fleets. If those vehicles create confusion for us with regard to whether or not they are alternative-fuel vehicles, then we have to stop this entire program because we are already using the language of this amendment as we are requiring other vehicles throughout the Federal Government to use.

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the chairman of the committee.

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Chairman, one of the problems that we have as a body at this time is that the people around the country are constantly observing us and looking at us in ways that are negative because we want to pass laws to impose on everybody except us.

If we are going to declare that we are moving toward energy independence, then the Members of the Congress using taxpayer dollars ought to be willing to give up big Cadillacs in order to lease an energy-efficient car.

The Speaker of the House, just to make a point, did, in fact, request an energy-efficient vehicle. Security, as they should have, said that they were not going to compromise security.

But this late legislation does not even approach those who have security. This says, Members who use their MRA. The Speaker, the majority leader, the minority leaders don't use their MRA. These are vehicles leased by the House of Representatives.

We cannot continue to try to lead the Nation in a direction that we won't lead first.

Mr. Chairman, I urge all the Members to vote to allow Congress to take the lead in moving toward energy independence.

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