Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman from Tennessee's agreeing for me to speak on this. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor of H. Res. 1595 to recognize the 50th anniversary of real estate investment trusts. For the last 50 years, we have seen how these publicly traded REITs have provided American investors with an affordable way to invest in real estate. I do a lot of work with livable communities. I want to congratulate the REIT industry for their efforts to pursue practices that will reduce the carbon footprints of their properties. {time} 1110 We are dealing with serious problems of energy efficiency and carbon pollution. Buildings account for almost 40 percent of our country's total energy consumption and 72 percent of our electricity consumption. This is one area where the industry has had a footprint that extends from coast to coast. I commend the REIT industry for joining with Energy Star to find ways to improve the energy efficiency of the industry. I am pleased to see honorees of this program include the Simon Property Group, AMB Property Corporation, and ProLogis--which owns property in my congressional district. I have enjoyed working with the REIT industry to introduce H.R. 4599, the Renewable Energy Expansion Act, which extends and improves the Recovery Act's grant program for renewable energy production and involves the real estate investment trusts in this arena.…”