Political Quotes

“this is a very modest amendment and I would hope that in fact both sides could accept it. It does not add any more money to this bill. It simply shifts within the Rebuild America program $1 million dedicated to the Energy Smart Schools program which will encourage schools all over America to become more energy efficient. Mr. Chairman, I got into this issue because a number of months ago I went to a high school in Vermont called U-32 outside of Montpelier, Vermont. They escorted me around the school after I spoke to the kids and what I discovered is that in that school they were heating that building, a large campus, with wood chips. They were heating with a virtually nonpollutant fuel, they were creating jobs within our local economy and they were saving taxpayers' money. It was a win-win-win situation. It turns out, I later discovered, that 23 schools in the State of Vermont are doing that. It seems to me that we all around our country have a lot to teach each other about energy efficiency, how we can save taxpayers' money in terms of making our schools sustainable, cost effective and energy efficient. All that this amendment does is take $1 million from the Rebuild America program and dedicate it to the Energy Smart Schools program. The Department of Energy is running a good program. It is teaching young people about energy efficiency. It is saving taxpayers' money. I would urge support for this amendment and hopefully we could have both sides accept it.”