Good morning and thank you for joining us for another in the series of hearings on comprehensive tax reform.  Today we will begin an examination of energy tax policy and tax reform.

I’m glad this hearing will be a joint effort between the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee and the Oversight Subcommittee.  Both subcommittees play an important role in reviewing energy tax issues—the Oversight Subcommittee by examining the IRS’s administration of existing energy tax provisions and the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee by examining energy tax policies.

Today’s hearing will feature three panels of witnesses.  The first panel will examine the IRS’s administration of so-called green energy credits included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  The second panel will examine different view points on the proper role of the tax code in promoting U.S. energy policies.  Finally, the third panel will examine H.R. 1380, the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011 introduced by Representative John Sullivan of Oklahoma and a fellow Member of the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, Representative John Larson of Connecticut.