Chuck Schumer, AOC Civilian Climate Corps Press Conference Transcript July 20

Rep. Joe Neguse: (00:00) Mr. Majority Leader, Schumer. Senator Schumer: (00:02) Thank you Mr. Joe Neguse. It is great to be here. Thank you. I'm sorry I have to speak early and run with all these great advocates here, but we have our leadership meeting at nine, but I wanted to be here because I thought it was so important. I want to thank Congressman Neguse. I want to thank my three grade colleagues champions of green legislation, Senator Markey, Senator Wyden, Senator Christopher Coons. I want to thank my colleagues, Marcy Kaptur, Judy Chu, Joe Neguse. I'm I losing anyone else? No. Rep. Joe Neguse: (00:31) No. Senator Schumer: (00:33) For joining us today. Right now, we have a once in a generation opportunity to confront the climate crisis and create millions of permanent, good paying union jobs. It's a great opportunity to combine those things. I have made addressing the climate crisis in a bold and strong way a primary focus of our debate on infrastructure. We are working with great urgency to make this happen. This week we are making progress. That is why I am using my power as majority leader to ensure that the Civilian Climate Corps will be included in the reconciliation package, and I will fight to get the biggest boldest CCC possible. Senator Schumer: (01:26) Now, the goal of the Civilian Climate Corps program is to tackle climate change by creating good union jobs and to ensure a well-trained workforce for long-term careers. Make sure underserved communities and communities of color are a very big part of the green job transition that improves their resilience, so different than what has happened in the past, where they were ignored and even worse. And coordinate with local communities to ensure economic justice is at the center of what the climate Civilian Climate Corps does. Senator Schumer: (02:01) Over the past few weeks, of course we've seen the worsening climate change effects on places like Oregon, Washington, across the Southwest, it's global. We saw what happened in Germany and Austria and Belgium last week as well. As climate change continues to worsen, extreme weather like this is only becoming more common, which is why we need this well-trained workforce to protect our communities and our health. And it's not a short-term need, it's a long-term need because this, the problem of global warming is going to be with us for a long time. Our goal is to stop it, but it's going to take us a little time. So we need the CCC right there helping us. Senator Schumer: (02:41) So the Civilian Climate Corps must be part of the solution. I'm working with my colleagues. I want to give a shout out to my many colleagues in New York, in the Sunrise Movement, environmental and climate groups, community organizations, and unions, to bring our shared vision for the CCC to life. We'll ensure the CCC provides a ladder up into good union jobs, recruits from communities that have borne the burden of the crisis. I want to thank the tireless young organizers and activists, such as Eddie Markey and Chris Coon, all of you, thank you. Who have brought the idea of the Civilian Climate Corps this far. Together we're going to work to make this a strong, bold and so important reality. Thank you everybody. Okay. Sorry to come and run. Bye everybody. Rep. Joe Neguse: (03:39) Thank you majority leader. Senator Schumer: (03:41) Thank you everybody. Thanks for being here. Rep. Joe Neguse: (03:42) Thank you again to Majority Leader Schumer. There's no better partner to have when pushing to make this program a reality than the majority leader of the United States Senate. So we're grateful for his leadership of course. I'm going to hand it over to a great colleague of mine from the state of Oregon, who has been such a great partner with respect to re-imagining this particular program. He represents a state like mine that has been besieged by wildfires. We believe that a Civilian Climate Corps really is the best and boldest solution that we need to restore our forests, to increase our workforce capacity, and to suppress the flames and ultimately to protect our communities. Senator Wyden has been a champion for the Civilian Climate Conservation Corps, and like to bring him up to the stage to address it. [inaudible 00:04:25] Senator Wyden: (04:25) Thank you Chairman Neguse and it's great to be with my friends from the Senate. Senator Markey, Senator Coons and wonderful colleagues from the House. No filibusters from me, I'm just going to make a couple of quick points. The biggest fire in America this morning is the Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon, nearing 350,000 acres as we speak. New evacuation orders were issued Monday. It's been burning for two weeks and state officials are saying it is so powerful, it can change the weather. If the Civilian Climate Corps existed right now, we can send thousands of young people into rural Oregon and other fire prone rural Western communities, and immediately start the prevention work that would give these communities the chance to get out in front of the future infernos that are hitting the rural West, like a wrecking ball today. Senator Wyden: (05:41) How do I know this is going to work? I'll wrap up with this. I have seen it on the ground. Young people who are part of the Northwest Youth Climate Corps have shown me the fire prevention work they are doing and how it makes the difference. Now today in Oregon, there are millions of acres of dead materials in our forest that are a magnet for catastrophic fire. It is the same thing in Colorado. It's the same thing all over the West. These are dangerous, unnaturally thick fuels. And if we go in there and clear them out, we can protect our communities. So it's a four alarm fire literally and figuratively and we want with this important bill and the great partners that we have in it, we want the federal government to be much more aggressive about fire prevention. They can do it now. That's what this bill does. Rep. Joe Neguse: (06:51) [inaudible 00:06:51]. Now, like to welcome someone who I think epitomizes the service that is part of the Civilian Climate Corps, that really is at the core of the triple C proposal. And of course it's no surprise given his service with the AmeriCorps program many, many years ago, and that Senator Coons. Senator Coons: (07:11) Thank you Joe. Thank you Congressmen Neguse, thank you to all of my colleagues from the Senate and House who joined us this morning for this exciting announcement, just to reaffirm the very broad and deep support in both caucuses in the House and the Senate to carry forward on President Biden's bold commitment to a Civilian Climate Corps. Senator Coons: (07:31) As our nation was coming out of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt created the WPA and the first CCC. These created opportunities, pathways to tackle urgent needs in our society and country at that point in time. So too now, as we begin to come out of the COVID pandemic, we can turn to an existing, trusted nationwide platform for us to make real the bold vision of the CCC, the new Civilian Climate Corps. The platform I'm talking about is AmeriCorps. 25-years-old, currently serving in every single state and territory in our country, with 75,000 AmeriCorps members who've responded to the pandemic, who've helped respond to hunger and to joblessness, to the opioid crisis and to other challenges facing our country. Senator Coons: (08:20) As Senator Schumer and Senator Wyden referenced, climate is causing greater and greater natural disasters. From heat waves and wildfires, to hurricanes and tornadoes. And then triple C members within AmeriCorps have been helping communities respond to natural disasters for decades. But a dramatically expanded CCC holds the promise of doing two important things at the same time. First, creating pathways for opportunity. If we design this right, and many of us have bills that would accomplish that. Congressman Neguse and I have partnered with other members. In the Senate there are two AmeriCorps alums from state Civilian Conservation Corps, Senators Heinrich, and Lujan of New Mexico. Senator Coons: (09:04) Congresswoman Ruppersberger and others have joined with Congressman Neguse in a bill that would create a new CCC that would provide a living wage, provide a pathway towards a high skilled, well-paying job future, provide more robust education opportunity and ensure a diverse AmeriCorps cadre for the future CCC. That's about opportunity for individuals. To make sure that this is a diverse and robust and national program. But we also, I think, need to agree that we can look to this existing platform of AmeriCorps for which the president's nominated a great new leader in Michael Smith, a new committee, a new CNCS board chairman, and we are ready to go. It can scale up to the robust vision that so many members of the budget committee and so many of my colleagues here have already laid out. This is a tried, true and tested model that helped our country get out of the depression, married up with a program that has helped us over the last 25... Senator Coons: (10:03) Depression married up with a program that has helped us over the last 25 years bring Americans together in service to our country. When we harness that to the generational challenge of combating climate change, we can make a truly transformational difference for a generation of Americans and for our country and for our future. I am so excited to work with my colleagues on bringing this vision into reality. Thank you all. Rep. Joe Neguse: (10:29) Thank you, Senator Coons. And now a senator who has been fighting for climate action since before I was born in the United States Congress. Not to age him, but he was the original chair of the select committee on the climate crisis 13 years ago, under Speaker Pelosi and the House of Representatives and has been a champion for climate action. Senator Markey. Senator Markey: (10:49) Thank you Representative Neguse. Thank you for your great leadership on this issue. Senator Wyden, Senator Coons, to Judy Chu and Marcy Kaptur, and to my partner with the Green New Deal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Senator Markey: (11:07) Today, we stand at the dawn of a new era of climate action. And we owe a great deal of gratitude and thanks to the activists and the climate leaders who brought us here today. Thank you, Sunrise Movement. Thank you, Evergreen. Thank you, Moms Clean Air Force. Thank you to all of the activists at the grassroots across this country who have built a movement, which we have a chance here in this Congress to capitalize upon and to create a new program that captures this generational desire to heal our planet. Senator Markey: (11:55) Two years ago on this spot, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I first introduced the Green New Deal, and helped Congress and people everywhere. We think how we approach the climate crisis. Since then people have taken to the streets and the ballot box to make jobs and justice and climate action central to our political system. Climate champions in and out of Congress are fighting for bills that have the GND in it's DNA. And we are here today calling for that bold, ambitious, transformational, economy-wide legislation with jobs and justice and climate at its center. Senator Markey: (12:41) I was proud to stand alongside Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez this year as we re-introduced the Green New Deal, and also brought forward our new Civilian Conservation Corps, because that legislation is a pathway to new jobs in our country, union jobs for young people so that they can through apprentice programs, not just have a job, but have a career in fighting this climate crisis, and a pathway for education. A pathway for them to pay off their student loans or to go to college. It would center jobs and justice within the vision of a climate-safe future. It would respond to the climate crisis at the scale at which it demands and it would put millions of people back to work in the short term, but it would put millions of people on the pathway to lifelong climate-smart careers. And that means 50% of the Civilian Climate Corps funds must go to environmental justice communities. $15 an hour must be our floor, not our ceiling. And we have to ensure that we need and support the health and childcare and transformational job training and educational benefits that every single family in our country need. Senator Markey: (14:12) President Roosevelt's CCC mobilized millions of Americans, but its doors were shut to millions of Americans, including people of color and women. It is time for us to reinvent, reimagine, and rebuild America with a Civilian Climate Corps. I'm proud to help us to get this across the finish line with the standards which our country deserves. We have Senator Schumer supporting us in the Senate. Thank Senator Schumer for coming here today. We have president Biden who wants a Civilian Climate Corps. We now have to get this over the finish line with the standards which we need, and it is now my pleasure to introduce a transformational leader for climate action, human dignity, and so much more. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (15:09) Thank you so much, Senator Markey. And I mean, so many of our colleagues have already said it all, but the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps is not just something that should be done. It's something that must be done. And I am so thrilled and encouraged at the progress that has already been made. We have the Senate majority leader in Senator Schumer that has taken this cause up. We have encouragement and we have the support from the White House in President Biden. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (15:43) So the question is not just if we're going to do it, but how. How big? How ambitious? What are we going to do with it, as well? And I kind of sit here and I think, and we all sit down and imagine what if three months after the mobilization, three months after the authorization of a Civilian Climate Corps a quarter million young people were employed in a dignified job? What if this led to record improvements and record performance in containing our wildfires across the country? What if this led to tens of thousands of new trails in our national forest and park service? And what if I told you that this isn't something that we have to imagine doing, but that was actually the record of the original Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938? This is not a pipe dream, and this is not some big and progressive vision that is "unrealistic." This is what we have already done. We've already done this. And so our mandate today is not just to revive some of the most ambitious programs and ideas, but so much of this is about how we go even bigger and better than we did originally. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (17:10) The original Civilian Conservation Corps under FDR was the largest peace time mobilization of young Americans in American history. In American history. And that is what this moment in this climate crisis... The climate crisis didn't even exist in the scale that it does now in 1938. And we knew then the importance of caring for our land. Now today we are talking about in both the Green New Deal and the Civilian Conservation Corps Climate Corps, it acknowledges the fact that our climate crisis today requires a peaceful, but war timescale mobilization in order to combat the climate crisis. So it's not just about doing it. It's about doing it big. The way that we're going to combat the climate crisis is not just with the science, but it is also with our economic structure. We can combat this with a fair economy in establishing a Climate Corps that not just guarantees a $15 minimum wage, but also extends the same educational benefits that we should be giving to our teachers and our other public service workers. It should put people on a track. And with Senator Markey and I's bill 1.5 million people on a track to good union jobs. That is how we're going to combat this and combat it together. 50% of our funding is going to making sure that this is not just going to our national parks and funding Climate Corps members to our national parks, but in urban communities as well to face environmental injustices. And so we're not just having half of that investment going to underserved communities, but recruiting people from underserved communities in order to serve and restore our land. And so I cannot be more thankful to have so many partners in this endeavor to ensure that we restore and truly revitalize our programs and spirit of public service. Because young people want this work. It is not just dignified. It is not just productive, but it is purposeful and meaningful. And so much of that is needed as we train and bring people together in combating the climate crisis. So thank you all very, very much. And I so sincerely appreciate it. Rep. Joe Neguse: (19:50) Thank you, Representative Ocasio-Cortez, my classmate, my good friend and colleague, who's visionary proposal for the Green New Deal in my view captured the imagination of American public and put us on a path to where we are now today. So now with my pleasure... Rep. Joe Neguse: (20:03) Us on a path to where we are now today. So now, my pleasure to introduce the senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, which is the committee that will be writing the legislation, ultimately as we go through- Senator Wyden: (20:10) Oh, excuse me, the [crosstalk 00:20:10]- Rep. Joe Neguse: (20:10) I know in the Senate, it's the finance committee, but in the House, it's the Ways and Means Committee, which is a good friend representative Judy Chu from California. We've got to give it up for her, Ways and Means. Judy Chu: (20:22) Well, as a representative from Southern California where climate change is driving historic droughts and so many wildfires, I'm honored to join my colleagues here today in calling for a new civilian climate Corps to help combat the impacts of climate change, and build a sustainable future for all. Judy Chu: (20:45) There's no question from the heat waves and drought besieging the West, to the hurricanes and flooding in the East that this summer represents a tipping point. We can no longer deny the consequences of climate change, and now we must have an infrastructure package that will help us recover, and we also need to lay the groundwork for projects that will help future generations survive a warming planet. And that's why I am proud to have introduced, along with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, the National Climate Service Corps and Careers Act of 2021, the bill would establish a new AmeriCorps program to promote community adaptation, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from the effects of climate change. Judy Chu: (21:35) But it's not just about building a better future for the planet. This Corps will lead to a better future for those involved by connecting participants with opportunities for long term careers in the green economy. It would also ensure that Corps members are paid a living wage, and ensure that vulnerable communities have a seat at the table when it comes to establishing priorities for Corps projects. Judy Chu: (22:03) This kind of investment is not only possible, it's proven. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps was established in response to The Great Depression, and it mobilized millions of young people to plant trees and build infrastructure that is still in use today. But now, our National Service Corps can respond to a new crisis by defending vulnerable communities from climate change, and providing such valuable experience for our young people. I'm thrilled that president Biden has included this in his American jobs plan. And I call on my colleagues in Congress to recognize this incredible unique opportunity to invest in a sustainable future Rep. Joe Neguse: (22:54) And to close us out, our wonderful colleague from the State of Ohio, senior member of the Appropriations Committee, the longest serving democratic woman in the United States Congress, no bigger champion for the working class in Ohio and across the Midwest, a clarion call to address poverty than Marcy Kaptur. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (23:11) Thank you very much. Speaker 1: (23:11) Hey Marcy! Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (23:13) Thank you Joe. Thank you to my dear colleagues Joe Neguse and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being here today, Judy Chu, obviously senators Markey and Wyden whom I remember well from their stellar careers in the House. Why am I here? I am not someone from the Dry West. I'm not from the East Coast like Senator Schumer and AOC. I'm from the Great Lakes. And back in 2008, after the financial crisis, I introduced a bill called the 21st century Civilian Conservation Corps before these fine rising young leaders came to Congress, because when the financial crisis hit, the Midwest plummeted and we had so many vacant homes and so many problems related to that crisis, which we are still digging out of. The only way I saw forward to begin to rationalize the housing market was to reviving something that had been called the Civilian Conservation Corps, and to include urban areas, to make sure that they weren't forgotten. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (24:25) And so today I represent an area that extends from the center of Cleveland, Ohio, which used to be called Forest City, all the way West, almost to the Indiana border through Toledo, Ohio, along Lake Erie, one of our troubled lakes. About a week ago, I drove back here to Washington seven and a half hours from Toledo to Maryland in the worst torrential rains I have ever driven through. It was truly frightening. I worried most about weather as I negotiated through the mountains of Pennsylvania, whether one of those big rocks would actually drop down on the highway. I've never worried about that before. And as I look at what just happened in Michigan with flood waters all around Detroit, which hardly got any national publicity because our part of the country, we don't get any publicity. We fight here kind of an anonymity, and it is so wonderful to see a new generation coming forward that wants to include everyone. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (25:23) But I can guarantee you, the States of Michigan and Ohio alone, in order to produce more oxygen have to plant 20 million trees. We don't have enough people to do it. And we also don't have the individuals who can come, and that's why I think that we should have the National Guard with many of its units that have trucks and equipment to come into places like I represent, and to be able to work with the AmeriCorps volunteers who will be paid as others have said, but to learn the skills to work in these difficult engineering circumstances. Trying to retrofit a Harbor requires engineering skills. If we go West and we try to remove some of those logs, you have to repel. You have to be trained to do that. And that takes effort, and it takes people who know how to do that. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (26:20) As the chair of the Energy and Water Committee of Appropriations in the US House, if you're beginning to work in places that have frayed lines, you have to be trained to do that. And so, I've urged Senator Gran... Excuse me, Secretary Granholm, former governor of Michigan who's the secretary of the Department of Energy to chime in and to assure that the Department of Energy plays a role in this as well. I'm a member of the interior subcommittee, and so our traditional agencies like the department of interior, and over on agriculture, the word "conservation" has special meaning. I honestly think, and this is my moment to say it, that this should be called the Civilian Climate and Conservation Corps, because the word Conservation Corps in the rural areas that I represent, and the non-urban areas has a special ring to it that I think will bring the majority with us. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (27:17) And so I'm here today to say, I support this proposal. I support all the proposals. John Larson has a bill in the House he's worked on for many, many years in terms of a Conservation Corps and a Climate Corp, and the proposal in the legislation to have a White House placement for someone to really... Whether it's the head of AmeriCorps working with all the departments, I think is really critical to bring to bear all of the resources and the funding that we need to accomplish this. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (27:48) And let me end with this. Congresswoman Grace Napolitano is not with us today, but one of her favorite programs that she has enlisted my help in over the years is the Youth Challenge Program of the US Department of Defense. I can guarantee you Senator Markey and Senator Wyden, there are funds that can be appropriated through the Department of Defense to be a full partner in these efforts. So, it is an all of America call to patriotic mobilization to prepare this country for the next generation, and to take very good care of it. So we can restore cities like Cleveland, and Toledo, and Lorraine, Ohio, as well as New York City and Los Angeles, and deal with all the difficulties we have in the Mountain States and in the South, with added flooding in the Houstons and the Mississippis and so forth. So, this really will require the best talent in America to be effective, and the inspiration of the next generation. This is an intergenerational effort, of which I am so proud to be a part; congratulations. Thank you all. Rep. Joe Neguse: (28:50) All right. Thank you Representative Kaptur. Bottom line, it has worked before, it can work again, and the time is now to get it done. So, we're happy to take a couple of questions. Speaker 2: (29:01) Can I ask, so, there are lots of different proposals here, lots of different bills. Can you talk a little bit about what the process is going to be like for writing the language that would go in a reconciliation package, given that many of you have different ideas about how to reach the same goal? Rep. Joe Neguse: (29:17) Sure. I'm going to turn it to Senator Wyden because he's the chair of the Finance Committee in the Senate, and so will be playing a large role in that regard. I would just say today, we released a letter with 80 colleagues across the House and the Senate, and many of them are here today, of course, leaders who have introduced their own proposals, none of which are mutually exclusive, and we've all agreed to a broad set of principles that we believe ought to govern that inquiry, that discussion as we try to craft the final language that hopefully will end up in the reconciliation package. But with that, I'm happy to turn it over to Ron. Senator Wyden: (29:46) Thank you, Chairman Neguse. And here's where we are with respect to this and climate. As you know, the Senate budget committee is getting ready to essentially lay out the framework. I mean, we're talking about 24 hours from now. Now, when you're at that stage and adding those- Senator Wyden: (30:03) Now, when you're at that stage, and Eddie knows this, you're not writing well. Section 403(b), paragraph 4, is going to be part of it. That will be what we do essentially in the fall when we're talking about reconciliation. But let me make a commitment to you right now, because I also serve on the Senate Budget Committee. We are going to have a broad berth in that budget resolution for a Civilian Climate Corps, period, full stop. And then we will reconcile our various bills. Only other point I want to make is that we are playing offense, folks, with respect to climate. The key kind of pieces that are already moving are of course the Civilian Climate Corps. The Senate Finance Committee, with the help of Eddie, defied history. And we took the tax code and basically set it aside, and we're going to have a new tax system which rewards people for reducing emissions. Senator Wyden: (30:59) Nobody thought it could happen. And finally, just in the last couple of days, we've staked out some important ground to make sure that foreign countries, when we're greening our infrastructure, can't undercut our workers and our manufacturers. That is a pretty powerful trifecta, and it is moving right now. Steps you can take right now, like the Civilian Climate Corps, they're going to make a huge difference in the West. My colleagues said it so well about the racial justice and what it does for communities of color, but those three pieces are moving now. Senator Markey: (31:42) Ron is right. We're going to move forward on this. There's no retreat. We're going to have a Civilian Climate Corps. It's going to pass. The question is what's in it. And from my perspective, $15 minimum wage, that has to be in there at a minimum. We have to ensure that environmental justice communities get at least 50% of the help, and that we recruit in those communities across the country that have historically been left behind. No question that that has to be key, that we're recruiting, that we're finding those people who have historically not been a part of these kinds of programs, and that ultimately the number is big enough that this is going to make a difference, a big difference. Senator Markey: (32:31) And I think that we can agree upon all of that, and that young people are put on a pathway to union jobs through apprenticeships, they're put on a pathway to go to public universities. And our legislation is $25,000 a year, which a young person would get. If they serve two years, $50,000 to either pay for their tuition or to have loan forgiveness. We have to have that kind of a program to make this Civilian Climate Corps available and accessible to all Americans, not just suburban young people who may have parents who can help to support them, but every single person in our country, regardless of color, regardless of their community, our participants. And I don't know if anyone else would want to get in and speak as well. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (33:20) No, just that I think that I don't... The beauty of reconciliation is that it's not an either or proposition. It's a yes and proposition. How are we going to combine elements from every single one of our proposals in order to make not just a robust program, but one that is inclusive and acknowledges these inequities? As Senator Markey mentioned, the provisions in our bill around education forgiveness, around extension of healthcare, around increases in AmeriCorps wages, these are not just progressive nice-to-haves. People from communities like mine in the South Bronx do not enter AmeriCorps not because they don't want to serve, but because they can't afford to serve. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (34:07) And so many people I know... One of my best friends, she worked on Wall Street for a long time because she had no other option to pay off her student loans, none. So she just paid it off, and what is she doing? She put in her notice, and she's going to enlist in AmeriCorps, because she can afford to do it 10 years after graduating college. And so the reason that these provisions are important, the reason I was just exchanging a note with Representative Kaptur about the integration of these programs within existing assets and infrastructure, all of this is... Again, it's a yes and approach. It's not a which bill are we going to accept. It's not competitive, it's inclusive. Speaker 3: (34:52) Last question. Rep. Joe Neguse: (34:53) Last question. I just would say I think the representative said it best with respect to not be mutually exclusive. I also think it's worth repeating a note that Senator Markey said. One of the original Civilian Conservation Camps is in my district in Colorado. I had a chance to tour it not that long ago. It's not lost on me that someone who looks like me wouldn't necessarily have been able to participate in the program of the 1930s, which excluded the vast majority of our society. And I think the focus on equity and equality, and the focus, I think, that permeates all of our different proposals to try to recruit minorities and women and a broad spectrum of Americans into this program is what makes this so exciting. So with that, what was the... Sally, do you want to... Yeah, go ahead. Sally: (35:35) On the emissions reduction provision that Senator Wyden just mentioned, how exactly would that affect small businesses that are related to the transportation industries, specifically auto industry to vehicle industry? Can you describe that, please? Senator Wyden: (35:50) Yeah. The automobile industry was very much involved in the negotiations to put package together. Be glad to outline the specifics, but there are a whole host of incentives, particularly to create new opportunities in the domestic automobile industry for electric vehicles and the like. But I can tell you, the automobile sector was very much involved in all of those negotiations, and I'd be glad to outline it for you. Rep. Joe Neguse: (36:21) Thank you all again for joining us, we very much appreciate it. And thank you to all my colleagues. Let's make it happen. Thank you all.