TMS Public and Governmental Affairs Resource Center

FROM THE FEDERATION OF MATERIALS SOCIETIES: With much fanfare, House Democratic leaders unveiled their “Energy Independence Day” initiative encompassing a wide range of bills from 11 House committees. Exactly how they plan to move the initiative remains to be seen. “There will be a comprehensive package, but not necessarily one big bill,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told Capitol Hill reporters. Skirmishing for position already has begun, with arguments over jurisdiction between Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-MI) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi over global warming legislation, between Rep. Dingell and Science and Technology Committee Chair Bart Gordon (D-TN), and between the Science and Technology Committee and the Natural Resources Committee over a number of energy R&D measures. For their part, House Republican leaders criticized the Democratic package for not encouraging domestic production of oil. Some observers already are predicting that the “energy independence” agenda will break up into smaller pieces by the time of floor consideration in September, making it easier for President Bush to threaten to veto individual measures.

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