I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 277 
To prohibit the use of amounts in a Members’ Representational Allowance 
to provide any vehicle which does not use alternative fuels. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 5, 2007 
Mr. CLEAVER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To prohibit the use of amounts in a Members’ Representa-
tional Allowance to provide any vehicle which does not 
use alternative fuels. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congress Leads by 
Example through Alt-fuel Resources Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The national average price of a gallon of 
gasoline has doubled in the past 3 years. 
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(2) The need to end the Nation’s dependency 
on foreign oil is a vital component of homeland secu-
rity. 
(3) The world’s supply of oil is limited and un-
stable, and therefore the need to develop new energy 
technologies is pressing. 
(4) Alternative sources of energy such as eth-
anol, hydrogen, and electricity have been proven ef-
fective and efficient in powering passenger vehicles. 
(5) There have been several pieces of legislation 
introduced in the House of Representatives to ad-
dress the growing problem of high gas prices and 
the need to utilize alternative sources of energy. 
(6) Members of Congress should follow their 
own example of setting forth legislation that encour-
ages the use of alternatively fueled vehicles. 
(7) In 2005 the total cost of automobile leases 
for Members of Congress surpassed $1 million, and 
a collective switch to alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid 
vehicles, or vehicles powered by bio-fuels could po-
tentially save American taxpayers thousands of dol-
lars annually. 
(8) The General Services Administration has al-
ready purchased over 68,000 alternative fueled vehi-
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cles for the use of Federal customers, more than any 
other organization in the United States. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITING USE OF MEMBERS’ REPRESENTA-
TIONAL ALLOWANCE FOR VEHICLES NOT 
USING ALTERNATIVE FUELS. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—No portion of a Members’ Rep-
resentational Allowance may be used to provide any indi-
vidual with a vehicle, including providing an individual 
with a vehicle under a long-term lease, which is not an 
alternative fuel vehicle. 
(b) ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES DESCRIBED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, an ‘‘alter-
native fuel vehicle’’ means any of the following: 
(A) A vehicle treated as an alternative 
fuels vehicle by the Administrator of General 
Services under standards established by the Ad-
ministrator. 
(B) Any other vehicle powered by alter-
native fuel or synthetic fuel. 
(C) Any other vehicle powered in whole or 
in part by— 
(i) flexible-fuel operating systems; 
(ii) bio-fuel operating systems; 
(iii) electrical operating systems; or 
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(iv) hybrid-electrical operating sys-
tems. 
(2) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In paragraph (1)— 
(A) the term ‘‘alternative fuel’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 301(2) of 
the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 
13211(2)); 
(B) the term ‘‘bio-fuel’’ means any fuel 
containing any organic matter that is available 
on a renewable or recurring basis, including ag-
ricultural crops and trees, wood and wood 
wastes and residues, plants (including aquatic 
plants), grasses, residues, fibers, animal wastes, 
municipal wastes, and other waste materials; 
and 
(C) the term ‘‘synthetic fuel’’ means any 
fuel obtained from coal or from natural gas, or 
derived from resources such as oil shale, tar 
sand, or waste plastics. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to amounts expended on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) TREATMENT OF EXISTING CONTRACTS.—In 
the case of amounts expended under a contract en-
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tered into prior to the date of the enactment of this 
Act, subsection (a) shall first apply with respect to 
amounts expended during the One Hundred Elev-
enth Congress. 
Æ 
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