STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD - MICHAEL C. BURGESS

ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE MARKUP

H.R. 5782, The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act Reauthorization

September 27, 2006

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Today we will two bills that are vital for the health and safety of our constituents. The first will reauthorize the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act and the second will reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.

I am pleased to see that the Manager's Amendment takes into consideration both the feedback that we received during June's legislative hearing and information that came to light during the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee's hearing on the BP pipeline incident.

The 2002 reauthorization was a success. This bill will build on that success by helping to roll out the 811 Call-Before-You-Dig program and creating a state damage prevention grant program. The Manager's Amendment will also remove the current regulatory exemption for low-stress transmission lines, treating them the same as high-pressure lines currently regulated by PHMSA. But the bill does not go too far and preserves the states' authority to regulate those intrastate gathering lines that fall within their jurisdiction.

Second, I want to applaud Ms. Myrick for HR 5472. Her commitment to improve a program that is so important to many women in the country is a true accomplishment. I will take this moment to admonish my friends on the other side of the aisle to turn this issue into a political issue last week when we marked-up the NIH. Ms. Myrick showed true leadership in responding to those partisan tactics and I applaud her for bringing this bill before us today so we can all support the goals of this program and improve women’s health.