Anna Eshoo: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of this amendment, the Beyer-Eshoo-Esty amendment, which…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of this amendment, the Beyer-Eshoo-Esty amendment, which restores funding to make it equal to the fiscal year 2018 level agreed to by Congress earlier this year for ARPA-E, which is the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. ARPA-E is housed within the Department of Energy and invests in emerging clean energy technologies to make our country more energy- secure, reduce costs, and increase energy efficiency. So it is smart. It is smart. That is what America has been known for, and we want to retain that reputation. The Agency specializes in high-risk, high-reward technologies that are, in many instances, too risky for the private sector but have enormous potential to change how we produce and consume energy. ARPA-E is doing for energy development what the NIH does for medical research. It provides early-stage support for new moonshot ideas that have the potential to transform the everyday lives of Americans and our economy. ARPA-E is a product of the 2006 Innovation Agenda and was modeled after the highly acclaimed DARPA, created 60 years ago in the Department of Defense. It is credited with launching some of the most successful technologies of our time, including GPS and the internet. ARPA-E was created by Congress in 2007 with bipartisan support, it was signed into law by a Republican President, and it has been a resounding success.…”