Jim Costa: “Thank you very much. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his explanation of what truly is a bipartisan effort.…”

“Thank you very much. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his explanation of what truly is a bipartisan effort. Mr. Speaker, I do rise, like my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, to support H.R. 1861, titled the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act of 2011. Those of you who are watching on C-SPAN, take note: this is a bipartisan effort. It's the kind of thing I think most of you in this country want us to do in Congress every day. This measure--and the four important points to note that we all concur in and what America wants us to do is provide us a path to energy independence, it revitalizes our Nation's transportation, water infrastructure and other investments in our infrastructure that equal jobs, jobs, and jobs. It reduces the deficit with no new taxes, and it is a bipartisan effort, one that is supported on both sides of the aisle. {time} 1600 Several years ago, I joined with my colleagues from both sides to develop this sensible energy policy that acknowledges the challenges for our Nation's energy, both in the short term, the near term, the medium, and the long term, over the next 20 years. Similar to what we have done in previous Congresses, we formed this bipartisan energy working group, which includes my colleagues, Representative Tim Murphy, who just spoke, Congressman Tim Walz, Congressman Bill Shuster, and myself and other Members whom you will hear talk about why we feel this is the path we ought to pursue.…”