Energy Bill Discussions Begin
September 20, 2007
10:37 AM
As you know, the House and Senate have both passed comprehensive energy bills. Chairman Bingaman, with the concurrence of Leader Reid, has asked ENR staff to convene bipartisan and bicameral discussions to “walk through” the text of both bills, so that relevant committee staffs will be educated as to the content of both bills. These meetings are not to decide the fate of any provisions, but to allow Senate staff to become familiar with the background of the House bill provisions, and vice versa.
Sen. Bingaman would like these discussions -- and indeed, the entire process of crafting a final comprehensive energy bill -- to be bipartisan. With that in mind, ENR’s leadership has reached out to both sides of the affected Senate and House committees, to let them know that their attendance at these walk-throughs is both desired and welcome.
We start this morning. First up will be Titles IV and IX of the House bill -- two of the bigger titles in the 1,003-page House bill. The discussions will include related sections in the Senate-passed energy bill. The meetings will continue tomorrow. In recognition of the upcoming Jewish holy day, we will pause the walk-throughs at noon on Friday and resume them next week. Our goal is to cover all the material in both bills by the end of next week.
So, to review: Bicameral staff discussions on the House and Senate energy bills begin today. Meetings are non-decisional and intended to be inclusive on a bipartisan basis, and substantive.
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