On the recordSeptember 14, 2012
My colleagues, this amendment would allow the title XVII loan guarantee program to go on, continue indefinitely. The committee's 18-month investigation made one thing, I think, absolutely clear: the title XVII loan guarantee program must be eliminated. The No More Solyndras Act accomplishes this goal. It's wholly supported by the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee and by the full committee. We support an all-of-the-above national energy policy that embraces a diverse range of traditional and alternative energy resources, but we don't support the Federal Government playing venture capitalist with taxpayer money. The gentleman from California mentions innovation. I would submit to him that the iPhone, the iPad, and the iPod all came without the government picking winners and losers. The government has a role in fostering the development of new energy technologies, but primarily through research and development. The committee's investigation made clear that the government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. And like the editorial that I put into the Record earlier from The Wall Street Journal, China is in the same fix as we are, and a lot of their solar panel companies are going bankrupt. The government needs to get out of the loan guarantee business altogether, and that's why we need to pass this bill. With that, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy).
