Education

Educational Training

Nothing posted to date

Educational Funding

Nothing posted to date

Teaching Evolution/Intelligent Design

Nothing posted to date

Energy

Energy Price

According to CQ Today from July 18, 2008, the bill introduced by Senator Reid, Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008 (S.3268), came to a halt in the Senate, as it would need 60 votes to prevail. The bill would strengthen regulation of energy futures trading, which would lessen the effect of speculation in energy markets on energy price.

According to The Hill, Senator Reid urged cooperation from the Republican leaders on a measure that would extend expiring tax provisions and energy tax incentives on July 8, 2008. He pledged for bipartisan action on extending tax incentives in a letter to Senator McConnell, as he wrote, "Both the House-passed and Baucus substitute bills rely on the same two offsets — one ends the use by hedge fund managers of offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes and the other merely extends an existing delay in the implementation of interest allocation rules for multinational corporations." The offsets proposed in both bills have been rejected by Senate GOP.

Senator Reid introduced the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 (S.3044), which would tax the "windfall profits" of oil companies, and force them to use a portion of their profits for renewable energy. Upon criticism of the bill's practicality, Reid responded "'I have said before that the Consumer First Energy Act is not a silver bullet that will solve our energy crisis overnight,' Reid said, adding that 'the American people deserve to know the truth, that the road ahead will not be easy.'"[1]

Clean Coal Technology

During consideration of the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) in the Senate, two competing amendments regarding coal-to-liquid fuels were proposed. S. Amdt. 1628 would have provided a minimum standard in the amount of coal-to-liquid fuels to be used in "covered fuels" (aviation fuel, motor vehicle fuel, home heating oil, and boiler fuel) beginning in 2016. While the amendment mandated the clean coal fuel to emit 20% less life-cycle greenhouse gases than gasoline, opponents objected to the comparison of coal to liquid fuel as similar to gasoline. They argued that liquid fuels derived from coal are more similar to diesel-based fuel, and emit up to 150% more greenhouse gases than petroleum-based diesel fuel. S. Amdt. 1628 failed passage with a vote of 39-55. Senator Reid voted against this amendment. The competing amendment, Amdt. 1614, would have provided up to $10 billion worth of loans for projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal gasification (or other transformation processes) by at least 75% and ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are at least 20% below the conventional baseline. Challengers criticized the 75% sequestration requirement as too high and voiced concern that the loan money would end up disbursed to other projects (read the debate). S. Amdt. 1614 also was rejected, with a final tally of 33-61. Senator Reid voted for this amendment.

Fuel Economy Standards

Renewable Energy

After a lengthy debate in June of 2007, the Senate passed the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6), which seeks to increase America’s energy independence through the development of renewable fuels and the fostering of energy efficiency. The legislation would mandate the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, require an increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and establish a carbon capture and storage research program. Senator Reid voted for the final version of H.R. 6, which passed with a vote of 65-27.

In the face of a veto threat from President Bush, the House passed the Senate version of H.R. 6 with amendments by a vote of 235-181 on December 6, 2007.The final Senate rendering of the bill, which passed with a vote of 86-8, still included language raising CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020. Senator Reid voted for the revised version of this bill. The final version of the bill passed in the House with a vote of 314-100 and was signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2007.
During debate of the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 (H.R. 6), the Senate also passed S. Amdt. 1693. This amendment would revise the Clean Air Act to provide short-term and long-term studies on the effects of the increased use of renewable fuels on the environment. It also allows the administrator of the study to create regulations that would mitigate any negative effects on air quality that did occur as a result of the increased use of these fuels. The amendment passed with a vote of 58-34. Senator Reid voted for S. Amdt. 1693. The amendment, however, did not make into the final version of H.R. 6, which was passed by the Senate on December 13, 2007. Senator Reid supports legislation that would increase financing for renewable energy projects and extending renewable energy tax credits.

Senator Reid also signed onto a letter with a bipartisan group of senators to the Department of Energy encouraging the Department to fully fund research in geothermal energy. In a press release, he says that "Geothermal energy has enormous potential to provide clean energy throughout Nevada and across the West...We are urging the Energy Department to adequately fund this vital research and to follow the guidance in last year's energy bill to accelerate the development of technologies to tap into this vast renewable energy resource^[1]."

On October 18, 2007, Senator Reid released a report (pdf) on job growth from renewable energy saying:

So many states, including Arizona and California, are creating jobs by actively developing this industry. If those other states can do it, then Nevada certainly can do it and be the leader and catalyst in our country’s energy revolution. We have endless renewable energy sources that are being wasted everyday that we do not tap into them. The sooner we invest in renewable energy, the sooner we can put more Nevadans to work, meet our state’s energy demands, and protect our air^[2].

Nuclear Energy

Senator Reid has been vocally opposed the Yucca Mountain Repository for storing radioactive waste. When the Department of Energy said that it would not be able to meet a deadline to file a license application for the facility, Senator Reid released a statement saying:

This is excellent news for Nevada and the nation. Nevada should not be the nation's nuclear dumping ground nor should millions of Americans be put at risk to ship tons of nuclear waste here. While I know the DOE will continue to try to limp forward, it is clear they are wasting their time and valuable taxpayer dollars hoping to build a dump that will never see the light of day^[3].

Environment

Nothing posted to date

Climate Change

With a vote of 51-42 the Senate rejected S. Amdt 1094 to the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495). This amendment would have required the Army Corp of Engineers to account for the long-term and short-term effects of global climate change in all feasibility studies or reevaluation reports. Supporters of S. Amdt. 1094 focused especially on the dangers associated with increased hurricane intensity and rising sea levels. Opponents criticized the amendment as being too expensive to implement and refuted any relationship between hurricane intensity and global warming (read the floor debate). Senator Reid voted for this amendment.

Health

Healthcare

The Senate passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (H.R. 493) with a vote of 95-0. After the House passed the bill in April 2007, Senator Coburn placed a hold on the bill because he wanted to clarify language to allow for "business necessity exemptions." The bill passed by the Senate was amended to reflect changes Senator Coburn wanted. After passage in the House, President Bush signed GINA into law on May 21, 2008.

On August 2, 2007, the Senate passed the final version of the “Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007” (H.R. 976) with a vote of 68-31. This bill would have increased funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $50 billion dollars over five years. Opponents saw the bill as too costly and were critical of the funding methods for the program, including a cigarette tax increase (read the floor debate). Senator Reid voted for this legislation. On October 3, 2007, President Bush vetoed H.R. 976, citing that the bill moved too many children towards federally funded healthcare. The House attempted to override the President’s veto, but the measure failed to pass with a vote count of 273-156. On December 29, 2007, President Bush signed the Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499) which extends funding for SCHIP through March of 2009, but does not significantly expand the program.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Senator Reid introduced the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S. 5) (pdf) to overturn President Bush's ban on using federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. The legislation would have expanded federal funding to embryos that were originally created for fertility treatments, and were willingly donated by patient, and would otherwise be discarded. While it passed in the Senate and House, it was vetoed by President Bush.

Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Research

In December 2005, Congress passed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 2520), which President Bush signed on December 20, 2005. The law "creates a new Federal program to collect and store cord blood, and expands the current bone marrow registry program to also include cord blood." Senator Reid voted for this bill. The legislation passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 431-1 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

Innovation

On August 9, 2007, President Bush signed the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act (H.R. 2272) into law. The law authorizes the doubling of funding for the National Science Foundation over the next seven years, increased funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and competitive grants for teachers and schools with the goal of strengthening the quality of education in science, math, and critical foreign languages. The bill was passed with unanimous consent in the Senate and was agreed to by a vote of 367-57 by the House after being reconciled in a conference committee. Senator Reid voted for this legislation. The America COMPETES Act was not fully funded in 2008.

Research and Research Management

Funding

Nothing posted to date

Endnotes

1. ↑ Harry Reid. Reid Sends Bipartisan Letter to DOE Urging Funding for Geothermal Research. http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=291751&
2. ↑ Harry Reid. We Must Create Jobs by Tapping Into Nevada's Renewable Energy. http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=285623&
3. ↑ Harry Reid. Reid Statement on Energy Department Announcement on Yucca Mountain. http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=290361&