John Myers: “Mr. Speaker, all members of the Committee on Appropriations realize the difficulty this year we have all had in putting…”

“Mr. Speaker, all members of the Committee on Appropriations realize the difficulty this year we have all had in putting a bill together and still honoring our commitment to balance the budget, at least by the year 2002. If I had had my druthers, we would have not terminated the Bureau of Mines, but I understand that was a compromise, so we accept this. As I understand it, the conference report to H.R. 1977 contains $13.7 million for the Department of Energy's industrial advanced turbine system program. The mission of the program is to develop more efficient gas turbine systems for industrial power generation. Implementation of the turbine program will help keep U.S. manufacturers on the cutting edge of turbine technology for power generation applications and enhance our Nation's economic competitiveness. Is it your intent that the $13.7 million provided by your subcommittee for 1996 be used to fund each of the two projects selected for the industrial advanced turbine systems program so that they have the opportunity to participate in the full-scale prototype demonstration phase?”