Rodney Frelinghuysen: “The gentleman's amendment adds, as we know, $50 million for ARPA-E while cutting funding for the fossil energy program.…”

“The gentleman's amendment adds, as we know, $50 million for ARPA-E while cutting funding for the fossil energy program. The Energy and Water portion of this bill strikes a careful balance between national security, American competitiveness, and the grave responsibility of deficit reduction. As written, this bill provides sufficient funding to keep ARPA-E operational and active in fiscal year 2011 while we thoroughly evaluate the program and its future in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process. ARPA-E has shown some promise in advancing our competitiveness; but in the light of the tough tradeoffs we've had to make in this bill--and indeed, they've been tough--I can't support further increased funding for ARPA-E before we've had a broader discussion of the new program. Further, to achieve this bill's historic levels of spending reduction, the bill has struck a finely tuned balance of support across programs within the Department of Energy. The amendment would reduce funding for fossil energy research and development.”