Wayne Allard: “I rise in support of Senate bill 2138 making an appropriation for energy and water development. I also want to make a…”

“I rise in support of Senate bill 2138 making an appropriation for energy and water development. I also want to make a few comments in regard to the Jeffords-Harkin amendment, which was adopted a little bit earlier on in the day, which was to restore funding to the renewable energy account in the 1999 energy and water appropriations bill we are now debating. First of all, I thank the chairman for his diligence and hard work in working with my office on issues that are very important to the State of Colorado. I am comfortable with the legislation in the form that it is being reported out of the Senate. I also recognize that there is a lot of work, or some work, that has to be done in conference committee and maybe a few issues yet that still have to be resolved as far as this particular bill is concerned. Let me just say a little bit about the priorities that I have as somebody who represents Colorado and what I am thinking about as far as those priorities are concerned. First of all, research programs that will benefit from this funding should be a national priority. They are energy-type research, and they are very, very important to the future of this country and having us not rely on foreign sources for our energy.”