| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1446 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Clean Energy Victory |
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| 6 | 6 | | Bonds. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL10, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. M |
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| 10 | 10 | | ERKLEYintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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| 11 | 11 | | to the Committee on Finance |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue Clean |
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| 14 | 14 | | Energy Victory Bonds. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Energy Victory 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Bond Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) Potential exists for increasing clean and re-8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | newable energy production and energy efficiency in-9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | stallation in the United States. 10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) Other nations, including China and Ger-1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | many, are ahead of the United States in manufac-2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | turing and deploying various clean energy tech-3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | nologies, even though many of these technologies 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | were invented in the United States. 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (3) Climate change represents an existential 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | threat to the safety, security, and economy of the 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | United States. Rapid and robust deployment of 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | clean energy will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | and mitigate the effects of climate change on Amer-10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ican society. 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (4) Many segments of the American public 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | want to take charge of efforts to combat the effects 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | of climate change and practice responsible consumer 14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | behavior. 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (5) The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew-16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | able Energy of the Department of Energy (referred 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | to in this section as the ‘‘EERE’’) estimates that 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | taxpayer investment of $12,000,000,000 into the 19 |
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| 47 | 47 | | EERE research and development portfolio has al-20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ready yielded an estimated net economic benefit to 21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | the United States of more than $230,000,000,000, 22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | with an overall annual return on investment of more 23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | than 20 percent. 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (6) Investments in renewable energy and energy 1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | efficiency projects in the United States create green 2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | jobs throughout the Nation. New and innovative jobs 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | could be created through expanded government sup-4 |
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| 59 | 59 | | port for clean energy and energy efficiency. 5 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (7) As Americans choose energy efficiency and 6 |
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| 61 | 61 | | clean energy and transportation, it reduces our de-7 |
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| 62 | 62 | | pendence on foreign oil and improves our energy se-8 |
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| 63 | 63 | | curity. 9 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (8) Bonds are a low-cost method for encour-10 |
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| 65 | 65 | | aging clean energy, as they do not require direct 11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | budget allocations or expenditures. The projects sup-12 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ported through Clean Energy Victory Bonds will cre-13 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ate jobs and business revenues that will increase 14 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Federal tax revenues, while simultaneously reducing 15 |
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| 70 | 70 | | nationwide health and environmental costs incurred 16 |
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| 71 | 71 | | by the Federal Government. 17 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (9) Bonds are voluntary measures that allow 18 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Americans to contribute financially in whatever 19 |
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| 74 | 74 | | amount is available to them. 20 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (10) During World War II, over 80 percent of 21 |
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| 76 | 76 | | American households purchased Victory Bonds to 22 |
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| 77 | 77 | | support the war effort, raising over 23 |
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| 78 | 78 | | $185,000,000,000, or over $2,000,000,000,000 in 24 |
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| 79 | 79 | | today’s dollars. 25 |
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| 83 | 83 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | For purposes of this Act: 2 |
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| 85 | 85 | | (1) C |
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| 86 | 86 | | LEAN ENERGY PROJECT .—The term 3 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ‘‘clean energy project’’ means a technology that pro-4 |
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| 88 | 88 | | vides— 5 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (A) performance-based energy efficiency 6 |
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| 90 | 90 | | improvements; or 7 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (B) clean energy improvements, includ-8 |
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| 92 | 92 | | ing— 9 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (i) electricity generated from solar, 10 |
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| 94 | 94 | | wind, geothermal, small-scale hydropower, 11 |
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| 95 | 95 | | and hydrokinetic energy sources; 12 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (ii) fuel cells using non-fossil fuel 13 |
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| 97 | 97 | | sources; 14 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (iii) advanced storage technologies; 15 |
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| 99 | 99 | | and 16 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (iv) electric vehicle infrastructure. 17 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (2) S |
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| 102 | 102 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 |
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| 103 | 103 | | the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del-19 |
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| 104 | 104 | | egate. 20 |
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| 105 | 105 | | SEC. 4. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS. 21 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (a) I |
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| 107 | 107 | | NGENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 22 |
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| 108 | 108 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con-23 |
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| 109 | 109 | | sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary 24 |
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| 110 | 110 | | of Defense, shall issue bonds to be known as ‘‘Clean En-25 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ergy Victory Bonds’’, the proceeds from which shall be 26 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •S 1446 IS |
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| 115 | 115 | | used to carry out the purposes described in subsection (c) 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | of section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as 2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | added by section 5). 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | (b) S |
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| 119 | 119 | | AVINGSBOND.—Any Clean Energy Victory 4 |
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| 120 | 120 | | Bond issued under this section shall be issued by the Sec-5 |
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| 121 | 121 | | retary— 6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (1) as a savings bond of series EE, or as ad-7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | ministered by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service of 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | the Department of the Treasury, in a manner con-9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | sistent with the provisions of section 3105 of title 10 |
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| 126 | 126 | | 31, United States Code; and 11 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (2) in denominations of $25 and such other 12 |
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| 128 | 128 | | amounts as are determined appropriate by the Sec-13 |
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| 129 | 129 | | retary, and shall mature within such periods as de-14 |
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| 130 | 130 | | termined by the Secretary. 15 |
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| 131 | 131 | | (c) A |
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| 132 | 132 | | MOUNT OFCLEANENERGYVICTORYBONDS.— 16 |
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| 133 | 133 | | The aggregate face amount of the Clean Energy Victory 17 |
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| 134 | 134 | | Bonds issued annually under this section shall be not 18 |
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| 135 | 135 | | greater than $50,000,000,000. 19 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (d) I |
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| 137 | 137 | | NTEREST.—Clean Energy Victory Bonds shall 20 |
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| 138 | 138 | | bear interest at the rate the Secretary sets for Savings 21 |
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| 139 | 139 | | Bonds of Series EE and Series I, plus a rate of return 22 |
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| 140 | 140 | | determined by the Secretary which is based on the valu-23 |
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| 141 | 141 | | ation of— 24 |
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| 144 | 144 | | •S 1446 IS |
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| 145 | 145 | | (1) savings achieved through reduced energy 1 |
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| 146 | 146 | | spending by the Federal Government resulting from 2 |
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| 147 | 147 | | clean energy projects funded from the proceeds of 3 |
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| 148 | 148 | | such bonds; and 4 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (2) interest collected on loans financed or guar-5 |
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| 150 | 150 | | anteed from the proceeds of such bonds. 6 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (e) F |
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| 152 | 152 | | ULLFAITH ANDCREDIT.—Payment of interest 7 |
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| 153 | 153 | | and principal with respect to any Clean Energy Victory 8 |
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| 154 | 154 | | Bond issued under this section shall be made from the 9 |
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| 155 | 155 | | general fund of the Treasury of the United States and 10 |
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| 156 | 156 | | shall be backed by the full faith and credit of the United 11 |
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| 157 | 157 | | States. 12 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (f) P |
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| 159 | 159 | | ROMOTION.— 13 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (1) I |
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| 161 | 161 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take 14 |
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| 162 | 162 | | such actions, independently and in conjunction with 15 |
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| 163 | 163 | | financial institutions offering Clean Energy Victory 16 |
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| 164 | 164 | | Bonds, to promote the purchase of Clean Energy 17 |
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| 165 | 165 | | Victory Bonds, including campaigns describing the 18 |
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| 166 | 166 | | financial and social benefits of purchasing Clean En-19 |
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| 167 | 167 | | ergy Victory Bonds. 20 |
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| 168 | 168 | | (2) P |
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| 169 | 169 | | ROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES .—For purposes 21 |
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| 170 | 170 | | of paragraph (1), promotional activities may include 22 |
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| 171 | 171 | | advertisements, pamphlets, or other promotional ma-23 |
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| 172 | 172 | | terials— 24 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (A) in periodicals; 25 |
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| 177 | 177 | | (B) on billboards and other outdoor 1 |
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| 178 | 178 | | venues; 2 |
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| 179 | 179 | | (C) on television; 3 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (D) on radio; 4 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (E) on the internet; 5 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (F) within financial institutions; or 6 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (G) any other venues or outlets the Sec-7 |
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| 184 | 184 | | retary may identify. 8 |
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| 185 | 185 | | SEC. 5. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS TRUST FUND. 9 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (a) I |
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| 187 | 187 | | NGENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the 10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 11 |
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| 189 | 189 | | the end the following new section: 12 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ‘‘SEC. 9512. CLEAN ENERGY VICTORY BONDS TRUST FUND. 13 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ‘‘(a) C |
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| 192 | 192 | | REATION OFTRUSTFUND.—There is estab-14 |
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| 193 | 193 | | lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 15 |
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| 194 | 194 | | to be known as the ‘Clean Energy Victory Bonds Trust 16 |
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| 195 | 195 | | Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may be apportioned 17 |
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| 196 | 196 | | or credited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section 18 |
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| 197 | 197 | | or section 9602(b). 19 |
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| 198 | 198 | | ‘‘(b) T |
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| 199 | 199 | | RANSFERS TOTRUSTFUND.—There are here-20 |
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| 200 | 200 | | by appropriated to the Trust Fund— 21 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(1) amounts equivalent to revenue from the 22 |
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| 202 | 202 | | issuance of Clean Energy Victory Bonds under sec-23 |
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| 203 | 203 | | tion 4 of the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act of 24 |
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| 204 | 204 | | 2025, and 25 |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(2) any gifts or bequests made to the Trust 1 |
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| 209 | 209 | | Fund which are accepted by the Secretary for the 2 |
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| 210 | 210 | | benefit of such Fund or any activity financed 3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | through such Fund. 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ‘‘(c) E |
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| 213 | 213 | | XPENDITURESFROMTRUSTFUND.—Amounts 5 |
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| 214 | 214 | | in the Trust Fund shall be available, without further ap-6 |
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| 215 | 215 | | propriation, to finance clean energy projects (as defined 7 |
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| 216 | 216 | | in section 3 of the Clean Energy Victory Bond Act of 8 |
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| 217 | 217 | | 2025) at the Federal, State, and local level, which may 9 |
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| 218 | 218 | | include— 10 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(1) providing additional support to existing 11 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Federal financing programs available to States for 12 |
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| 221 | 221 | | energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy deploy-13 |
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| 222 | 222 | | ment, 14 |
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| 223 | 223 | | ‘‘(2) providing funding for clean energy invest-15 |
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| 224 | 224 | | ments by all Federal agencies, 16 |
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| 225 | 225 | | ‘‘(3) providing funding for electric grid en-17 |
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| 226 | 226 | | hancements and connections that enable clean en-18 |
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| 227 | 227 | | ergy deployment, 19 |
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| 228 | 228 | | ‘‘(4) providing funding to renovate existing inef-20 |
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| 229 | 229 | | ficient buildings or building new energy efficient 21 |
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| 230 | 230 | | buildings, 22 |
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| 231 | 231 | | ‘‘(5) providing tax incentives and tax credits for 23 |
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| 232 | 232 | | clean energy technologies, 24 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ‘‘(6) providing funding for new innovation re-1 |
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| 237 | 237 | | search, including ARPA–E, public competitions simi-2 |
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| 238 | 238 | | lar to those designed by the X Prize Foundation, 3 |
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| 239 | 239 | | grants provided through the Office of Energy Effi-4 |
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| 240 | 240 | | ciency and Renewable Energy of the Department of 5 |
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| 241 | 241 | | Energy, or other mechanisms to fund revolutionary 6 |
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| 242 | 242 | | clean energy technology, 7 |
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| 243 | 243 | | ‘‘(7) providing additional support to existing 8 |
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| 244 | 244 | | Federal, State, and local grant programs that fi-9 |
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| 245 | 245 | | nance clean energy projects, and 10 |
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| 246 | 246 | | ‘‘(8) providing funding for zero-emission vehicle 11 |
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| 247 | 247 | | infrastructure and manufacturing. 12 |
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| 248 | 248 | | ‘‘(d) P |
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| 249 | 249 | | ROJECTPRIORITY.— 13 |
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| 250 | 250 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 251 | 251 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | that not less than 40 percent of the amounts ex-15 |
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| 253 | 253 | | pended under subsection (c) in each year are ex-16 |
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| 254 | 254 | | pended for clean energy projects which are located 17 |
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| 255 | 255 | | in and reduce energy rates in disadvantaged and vul-18 |
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| 256 | 256 | | nerable communities. 19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ‘‘(2) D |
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| 258 | 258 | | ISADVANTAGED AND VULNERABLE COM -20 |
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| 259 | 259 | | MUNITIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the 21 |
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| 260 | 260 | | term ‘disadvantaged and vulnerable communities’ 22 |
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| 261 | 261 | | means communities— 23 |
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| 265 | 265 | | ‘‘(A) which bear disproportionate burdens 1 |
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| 266 | 266 | | of negative public health effects, environmental 2 |
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| 267 | 267 | | pollution, or impacts of climate change, 3 |
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| 268 | 268 | | ‘‘(B) have significant representation of 4 |
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| 269 | 269 | | people of color, low-wealth individuals, or Tribal 5 |
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| 270 | 270 | | and Indigenous members, or 6 |
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| 271 | 271 | | ‘‘(C) which have a high concentration of 7 |
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| 272 | 272 | | low- and moderate-income households as com-8 |
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| 273 | 273 | | pared to other communities, 9 |
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| 274 | 274 | | as determined by the Secretary.’’. 10 |
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| 275 | 275 | | (b) C |
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| 276 | 276 | | LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 11 |
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| 277 | 277 | | for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code is amended 12 |
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| 278 | 278 | | by adding at the end the following new item: 13 |
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| 279 | 279 | | ‘‘Sec. 9512. Clean Energy Victory Bonds Trust Fund.’’. |
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| 280 | 280 | | Æ |
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