Date: 2007-07-26
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the amendment. Some people may have thought that since I have supported Mr"FfAKE on a number of amendments. that this was sort of a centrifuge way for me to help defeat the amendment because it might lose support. given the fact that I have supported some of his amendments and not supported others. But. rather. I did request an earmark. It is one of the seven or eight earmarks that have been combined together in this in support of the textile center because the textile center exists in about -eight different locations around the country. eight institutions. one of them the University of California at Davis. That part of UC Davis which ispart of this is actually not in my district. Its in the gentleman. Mr. THOMPSONs. district. But I am convinced of the worthiness of this request for a slightly different reason than has been mentioned on the floor to this time. One of the key areas that the textile center funds go to support in the work and research thats done at the UC Davis center is in the area of personal protection. research improving the functional clothing for homeland security and occupational safety. What do we mean by that? Well. there are what are known as biocidal Nomex fabrics. which have been developed for firefighters. for first responders and for military personnel in collaboration with the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory. In collaboration with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. research has enhanced the safety and comfort of firefighters uniforms by improving and redesigning the fabrics and clothing. Biocidal textiles. and biocidal means that there is something that is in the textile itself. the product itself. which can kill certain kinds of things. substances which would be harmful to those who are wearing them. This is dedicated research for this specific purpose. Biocidal textiles. including protective masks. have been designed and developed for health care and other workers. resulting from interdisciplinary research teams. which include social and physical scientists. public health and environmental researchers. So while there are many reasons to support this amendment from the standpoint of those that are attempting to help an industry that has had difficult times. I rise in support of the very specific research thats being done as part of the textile center operation at the University of California at Davis which goes to protecting those folks who respond as first responders when we have explosions. when we have fires. It is not just being said to come up with some extraordinary reason to support this. This is actual research being done that has produced products that has made it safer for our first responders. One of the things I have requested from anybody who has asked me to put forth an earmark request is show me the Federal nexus. This to me is clearly a Federal nexus. This is research that supports first responders all over the country. Its concentrated research that means it is done on a far better basis than otherwise would be possible. It enhances the final product. And in that way. it seems to me. it is a substantial. reasonable application of Federal funds for a Federal purpose. For that reason. even though I have great respect for the gentleman from Arizona. whom I think has done a great job. and I have referred to him publicly because of his pleasant demeanor as he approaches this difficult task as Don Quixote with couth. I still would have to say with all due respect. I must oppose his amendment.