give us strength to do our duty to stand for right and to give thanks at the remembrance of your holiness help us to see to serve rather than to be served and to treat others as we desired them to treat us give wisdom and discernment to our senators help them to find a way to lift people from vicious cycles of poverty discovering the correct balance between personal responsibility and governmental intervention and lord we pray today for our troops in harm's way and we pray this prayer in your strong please join me in reciting the pledge allegiance to the the clerk will read our communication to the senate washington d c april twenty ninth two thousand and eight to the senate under the provisions of rule one paragraph three of the standing rules of the senate i hereby appoint their honorable robert p casey jr a senator from the commonwealth of a period morning business for senators speaking of are allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each i would ask consent that until the morning business hour be extended till twelve thirty today at the time before the divided without complete our conversation with our caucus because this bill is coming up mr president i ask you prove that consent request without objection that following the morning business that the reauthorization last thursday i met in my office with representatives of various unions that deal with the airline industry flight attendants mechanics and  controllers and they had some opinions as to what was going on an hour or two later i meet with the chief executive officers of major airlines in our country today they were terribly concerned about what goes on the fuel costs for these airlines is now approaching fifty percent of their overall costs if i may be a few cents  my illustration but they said we can't compete we pay a dollar twenty for a gallon of efficient fuel in europe they pay seventy cents he just can't compete because dollar has become so low in value on around the world so this is an extremely important bell if there were ever a time that we have to try to work on a bipartisan basis to try to approve legislation necessary to get our airline industry it chance to survive and we must do it on this piece of legislation i will work with my fellow republican counterpart to see if we can see a way of each side offering space many i don't want to to have to fill the so called legislative tree this is a but we're have to be very careful this is the tax bill and so i'll have a conversation with my colleagues  this morning before a caucus to see if we can come up with a way to proceed on this legislation a very very important legislation and we have and so many other things to do we have  farm bill that is completed basically i understand we're going to have to go to that soon because it expires at the end of this week we the consumer product safety conference it should be completed by hopefully by the end of next week we have the budget that we have our budget that we have to complete and for today on that we have a statutory time to work toward the conclusion of that we have whether we wanted or not there's going to have to be a discussion as to fuel prices what's going on that's number one issue facing america today it's more important now than the housing market which is so so so in a state or distress so we have many many things to do here in the next few weeks and not the least of which the house going to pass next week supplemental appropriation bill dealing with the funding of the war in iraq and afghanistan and it's so it's no easy venture to complete that because we have as you know there are thirteen things that the president wants to have on that bill that he's told us in addition to the funding for the wars and we have had a lot of opportunity  recent months to point fingers at each other and hopefully we can in the next four weeks until the while day recess start pointing fingers two ways to complete some of this legislation because it's extremely important  bill i've told my leadership team and i just met with this morning we can't blame that one on the republicans because the fact is that the substitute coming from the finance committee and the commerce committee has not been completed till ten o'clock last night so realistically you couldn't expect republicans to let a start ledge playing on that before they had the piece of legislation some piece of legislation themselves but i would hope that they they've had it now since last night i would hope after we have our caucus we can proceed to award completing this legislation regional manager finally it's my understanding that the chart five seven one five is the desk and is due for a second reading the clerk read the bill for the second time h r fifty seven fifteen an act to ensure continue to fail ability of access to the federal student loan program for students and families republican leader as we all know the senate voted unanimously last night to proceed to the f a a bill despite the fact is the majority just indicated at the time we voted we had not yet received kind of the senate substitute we did have a chance to receive it overnight and will now review it before proceeding and we can talk again after the respective policy launchers midday today about that it's my expectation that when we do get on the bill that we indeed allow amendments majority leaders indicated that his intention many on our side would like to offer amendments and there will be debate on this bill i'd also like to point out that while the f a a is an important agency the number one issue for americans right now and their greatest concern is the price of gas at the pump the price of gasoline has jumped more than a dollar twenty five cents a gallon since the beginning of the current congress the cost of oil nearly tripled in that time from forty five dollars a barrel last january to one hundred twenty dollars a barrel now according to aaa the average price of a gallon of gas in kentucky is three dollars fifty eight cents the highest ever i was happy to read as a majority has test their chairman to come up with ideas to work on this issue but i fear that to add to that comes back will be the same two word prescription that's been offered higher taxes but higher taxes all raise the price at the pump not lower it so while we move forward on the f a a bill the senate should not forget what americans are most concerned about the dramatic increase in pain at the pump over the last year and we should be able to stipulate at the outset raising taxes is a way of addressing the problem isn't even worth serious consideration mr president you'll floor under the previous sort of the leadership time is reserved under the previous sort of the senate will proceed to a period of mourning business for up to one hour with senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each with the time equally divided it control between the two leaders or their design with the majority controlling the first half and the republicans controlling the final half its present system majority leader i ask dems consensus because if morning business without objection this president it's interesting the issues that touch the lives of people to the point where they bring them up to a senator or congressman there's an issue now which whether you live in pennsylvania or illinois you're going to hear about whether you're going to shop in the grocery store in springfield as i did over the weekend or you're back home a church it's gas prices and it's understandable because this is a economic issue which hits you right between the eyes every time you drive down the street and hit you right in the pocketbook when you go to pay for that gasoline you know what's happening with that price of that commodity and you also know when something is obviously very wrong in my state the average consumer is paying a record three dollars and seventy one cents a gallon for gasoline there are many states paying more diesel feels or even worse the only average i was four dollars and thirty cents a gallon but in some parts of america diesel fuel called a cost as much as five dollars a gallon think about that trucker many of whom have to live on a very slight margin filling up the tank of that truck that they're taking down the highway and putting out over nine hundred dollars sometimes a thousand dollars to do it for many of them it means working extra hours extra days an extra week to try to make enough just to get by fuel cost today or two and a half times what they were when president bush took office in two thousand and one what a legacy this president will leave when you take a look at energy in america today we elect presidents to really look to the future plan and guide america in this situation this is ministration which was born in the oil patch with both president bush and vice president cheney having their early roots and in the business of oil companies this is ministration has stood by on the sidelines and watched the cost of energy rise to record levels in america creating hardship not just for families and individuals but small businesses as well as trucking firms not to mention airlines which i'll mention in more detail in just a moment when you take a look at the opportunity for economic growth in america it is tied tightly to the cost of energy this president has failed in seven years to have an energy policy that really had any vision it was predictable that demand would increase for petroleum and crude o in countries like china and india that limited resources around the world would be taxed as these economies grew as there to make and for oil grew and as we had to compete for that oil with those other countries like china and india the laws of supply and demand suggest that that competition is going to raise the price of crude and it has risen dramatically now many people say well i suppose because it's now reached one hundred twenty dollars a barrel as it did last week that explains the gasoline prices that i'm paying the diesel prices and jet fuel prices in fact it does not it's an oversimplification to say that that is the reason because between the crude oil and the product you buy is a refinery and oil company that takes the crude and converts it into products that we purchase and the difference in cost between the original barrel of crude oil and the ultimate product is called the cracks bread the cracking process at the refinery and that has changed dramatically not that long ago the difference in cost was a dollar or two a gallon in terms of the refining process now it's up over forty dollars a gallon so the refining process between the crude oil and what you bought at the gas station has really risen dramatically and cost crude oil of course cost more but that has risen dramatically now that explain something else a phenomena which can't be ignored this is the week when america learns who's making the money off of that high gasoline cost that we find at the pump and i think the answer is obvious conoco phillips just reported two thousand a turning for its first quarter up seventeen percent four billion dollars in profits for conoco phillips in the first three months of the year this morning british petroleum b p announced they made seven point six billion dollars in profits in the first quarter of two thousand and eight and royal dutch shell announced nine point zero eight billion dollars in the first quarter we're still waiting for exxon mobil understand these are not just the biggest profits in the history of the oil industry these are the largest profits in the history of american business some say in the history of all business throughout mankind the largest profit taking ever at whose expense at the expense of consumers and families small businesses truckers airlines and our economy that is the reality wouldn't you expect a president of the united states to call in the major leaders of these oil companies and say to them you are destroying the economy that we're counting on for america by your profit taking you are making it impossible for this economy to grow we're facing a recession over the housing crisis and now you are come pounding this misery with your greediness and selfishness and profit taking from this economy that's a fact well the oil companies say well the problem is we just don't have enough refineries in our refineries if we have more than we have more product and we might have a smaller spread and we're wouldn't be let me tell you one today the refineries in america are operating at eighty five percent capacity don't buy this argument that it's about refineries they have more capacity that they're holding back so that they can keep their product dear and limited and short and so that the consumers will ultimately pay more the oil companies have been making money hand over fist as these oil prices have gone up in two thousand and seven the private oil industry pocketed one hundred fifty five billion dollars in profits out of revenues of one point nine trillion dollars and the largest integrated oil company exxon mobil recorded a profit in two thousand and seven a forty point six billion dollar record breaking numbers profits for the five largest integrated oil companies have more than quadrupled in just five years this deluge of profits has been so great that companies hardly know what to do with the flood of money filling their headquarters do you think these profits are being reinvest infrastructure and increasing production to ease rising prices or the profits being used to make it easier for alternative fuels and cars and trucks the answer is no a good portion of their profits are being accumulated is uninvested cash cash holdings for the five super major oil companies in two thousand and seven exceeded fifty two billion dollars money write off your credit card into the oil company coffers that sits there earning interest that's two hundred seventy one percent greater than it was in the year two thousand and two capital expenditures by the same industry for infrastructure and capacity increase by only eighty one percent now some people have suggested a gas tax holiday stop collecting the federal gas tax i'll tell you in the first instance if american consumers are bought off with that alone they ought to take a second look if there is a three month gas tax holiday been proposed it will mean savings to consumers on average of about twenty five to thirty dollars twenty five to thirty dollars for the entire summer think about what you're paying for gas tank a tank of gas and if you take the federal gas tax often the money's not going in the federal trust fund to build the highways to reduce the congestion so you don't sit in traffic burning gasoline and not getting to your destination it's not a very good tradeoff so the obvious question to ask is if the federal gas tax is to come off and give me any savings what am i ultimately going to pay who's going to pay for the money that's lost in the investment in the federal highway trust fund that i think is critical now last week mr president i called on the chairman of the federal trade commission to launch an investigation into this matter i should have had to write that letter the fact that a member of congress has to knock on the door and get a little stir inside the federal trade commission say anybody home have you noticed what's going on at gas stations across america why would a member of congress have to ask the federal trade commission to do their job but they should do their job they should be taking a close look at the increase in gasoline prices and diesel prices and jet fuel prices this last week the two biggest airlines in america american airlines and united airlines recorded record losses for the first quarter because of the cost of jet fuel in the instance of american airlines it was around three hundred million united airlines about five hundred million dollars and these are serious problems united is going to lay off a thousand people that's going to hit my home state of illinois in the city of chicago it's going to hurt us in terms of employment other airlines are facing this same squeeze because of jet fuel cost is the same issue as diesel fuel the same issue is gasoline if america's economy is going to pull out of this recession and move forward we need real leadership we need the federal trade commission investigating these oil companies and their profit taking we need congress to stand up on its hind legs and finally say enough and wouldn't it be a joy to have a president who would wake up in the morning and look outside the window of the white house and see something other than baghdad if he took a look outside the window and instead saw chicago or boston or miami or philadelphia he would understand the american economy needs his attention this president comes and asks us for a hundred and eight billion dollars more for this war in iraq with no end in sight he is proud that he's going to leave office now ever changing this failed policy that he instituted in iraq and he ignores the american economy a strong america begins at home and most americans will tell you it begins at the gas pump give them affordable gasoline so this economy can grow and they can afford to meet the costs of living which continue to increase dramatically under this administration unfortunately this president has ignored it or in the oil patch he's been raised to ignore the obvious when the oil companies are taking obscene profits out of the wallets of american consumers it not only hurts our economy it hurts our security in this world i'm glad that fifty one senators have joined in asking president bush to stop taking all and putting it in the strategic petroleum reserve for the remainder of this year i wish he'd listen but he hasn't i hope that we're going to move toward more research and development so that we have cars and trucks that are more fuel efficient this administration is devoid of ideas and devoid of leadership when it comes to this energy crisis if this president would get out of the white house and visit any town in america and ask the average person what's on their mind they would telling mr president roll up your sleeves focus on this country bring down the cost of gasoline get energy prices under control so this economy can floor senator brown speaks i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to meet consideration of estrus five thirty nine submitted earlier today by senators reid mcconnell the clerk will report senate resolution five thirty nine to authorize testimony in legal representation in uninsured week community organizations and foundations around the country will be hosting events to highlight the need for health reform across the nation we all know this forty seven million people lack health insurance in my state of ohio one point two million people eleven percent of the population are uninsured it's sits no different in the in the presiding officer state of pennsylvania than even want to american lack health coverage is a national embarrassment for the wealthiest nation in the world we spend two point three trillion dollars a year two point three thousand billion trillion through two point three trillion dollars a year in health care we can't make sure that every american has health care coverage of course we can every other industrialized nation on this earth ensures access to coverage we in this body have chosen not to last year congress tried to provide health coverage to millions more low income children the house and senate both passed bills twice to provide thirty five billion dollars over five years in additional funding for the state children's health insurance program it was the biggest bipartisan initiative to expand health care coverage in years twice not once but twice the president veto that legislation we spend more than three billion dollars every week in the war in iraq the president vetoed legislation spending seven billion dollars a year to insure four million children three billion dollars a week every week in iraq the president vetoed seven billion dollars a year to insure four million children in these are the sons and daughters of working parents sons and daughters of parents and in toledo in mansfield in zanesville who are working hard and playing by the rules think about this mr president since i've begun to speak just a few moments ago we have in iraq spent about six hundred fifty thousand dollars yesterday in iraq we spent four hundred million dollars last week in iraq we spent three billion dollars again the president vetoed legislation seven billion dollars a year for four million children it was disappointing to us as advocates for for children's health insurance but mostly it was disappointing to the parents of children around my state from cincinnati to ash to beulah from to springfield to lima parents around ohio and around the country who need health insurance for their children not only didn't know too many low income children live without health insurance but families whose breadwinners are self employed or who work for small businesses struggle to get health insurance to families like the colemans of cannae out ohio community in the northeast corner right across the line from pennsylvania the coalmines are a large family with five children and two hard working parents last year their seven year old son caleb was diagnosed with leukemia the doctors are optimistic but treatment is wildly expensive last year can a coleman caleb's mother left her job to work for her family business a neighborhood grocery store unfortunately this meant she had to search for new health insurance after a long search for private insurance the colemans found of an affordable plan but it wasn't scheduled to go into fact until august by that time caleb had been diagnosed with leukemia which was a deal breaker for the private insurer uninsured facing a catastrophic illness a parent's worst nightmare the coleman said run out of options canada the mother a college educated daughter herself with two conny natives recounted the experience this way if there was absolutely any other way to get our son the care and medication he needs without totally impoverishing our family we would do it in a country like ours family shouldn't have to be to worry about being thrown into abject poverty just to pay for health insurance families want to do the right thing they want to insure their children they work hard they play by the rules but insurance too often is out of reach that's why today i'm introducing a bill to make health insurance more viable for workers employed by small businesses the small business empowerment act would create an insurance program for small businesses and self employed americans this program is modeled after the excellent coverage that's provided to federal workers and to members of the house and senate to keep premiums affordable the department of health and human services would create a reinsurance mechanism to help cover high cost and rowley's the legislation were established a federal commission to tackle the toughest health policy issues how to rein in health care spending without compromising health care quality and access how to craft an insurance package that treats all and all enroll leaves equally regardless of what type of health care they need which is essential how to combat and how to combat price gouging by the drug industry the medical device industry and the insurance industry in other words how to ensure that our health care system is sustainable and equitable efficient and effective the bill was introduced to help families like the coleman thankfully caleb's current prognosis is good in the family business seems to be turning the corner his treatment would cause covered by ohio's medicaid program another program that is crucial to providing coverage to families who are struggling another program that is under attack by this administration as a try tries to change the rules and as it cuts billions of dollars from the program this week and every week we need to work to keep medicaid strong to realize the expansion of chip for which we fought so hard and to pass legislation for the self employed and workers and small businesses the employer the small oir health insurance bill provides more options so that the rest of the coleman family including caleb's parents can access health insurance too i don't want caleb's parents and conny out ohio to live in fear when their children fall down or get in an accident or catch the flu or have an allergic reaction to something they ate they have enough on their plate already i look forward to working with my is this incredible little federal agency that has pulled off extraordinary feats and continues to do so defying the laws of gravity utilizing the principles of physics to do wondrous things as we began to continue our exploration of the he mr president nasa it is going through a very difficult time first of all nasa has been starved of funds the national  and space administration in its human space program has not been allocated enough money by this administration and the series of congresses over the last several years in order to do everything that they want to do this was particularly acute earlier in this decade when we lost the second space shuttle the sh columbia and its breakup in the atmosphere all upon re entry over texas two point eight billion dollars just in the correct coverage of that disaster and in the recovery of flight and unlike the l twenty years earlier of challenger in the cost of recovery from challenger which was provided outside of the nasa budget this time nasa had to eat the cost of recovery out of its operational budget therefore leaving almost three billion dollars less for nasa to operate on to do all the things that it wants to do and  the things that it wants to do and what do we want to do but don't fulfill the vision as a nun cheated several years ago by the president that we would build a new vehicle at after the space shuttle the capsule called orion the rocket called air use the program call constellation that would have a new vehicle that would transport like a capsule like the old apollo capsule that only carried three astronauts this would carry six it would be our new human vehicle to get to and from the space station much safer than the space shuttle more economical but then that the program would then expand on for us to go back to the moon by tw and establish a habitation on the moon to learn from dealing in that environment as ultimately humankind is going to go to mars that's the program called constellation but nasa was never provided with enough money now over the past couple of years this congress this senate has tried to provide nasa with that money indeed last year we were successful in the nasa appropriations bill of getting an additional billion dollars just to partially pay back nasa for the money that it had eaten out of its operating budget on the cost of recovery of the space shuttle disaster the space shuttle columbia but when we got down to the house in the house specifically the white house budget director would not support the additional billion dollars and the chairman of the house  committee then insisted that that be taken out of the budget and nasa is right back in the place where it found itself with not enough money to do everything that is trying to do it's like saying that you want to take ten pounds of potatoes and stuff them into a five pound potato sack it doesn't fit now hopefully the new president will understand this does america want a successful space program and does america want a successful human space program complimentary with those robotic spacecraft that do so many very successful things i think the answer to that is clearly yes we have always had the high ground this country's technological achievements have always kept us at the cutting edge as the leader in the world this goes back to remember when the soviets just surprised us putting up the first satellite sputnik and we were scrambling to catch up remember when they surprised us and put the first human you're  gerund into orbit and that surprised us and we hadn't even gotten alledge shepard up in sub orbit and it was ten months later before we could get the first american in orbit former senator john glenn one of the great heroes of this country and after that then our resolve the nation young president who said we're going to the moon and return all of that combined along with the space race with the soviet union we clearly became the leader and the span off from that program into everyday life the technological achievements velcro micro miniatures ation new products a lot of the modern miracles of medicine are direct spinoffs from the research and development of the space program when going to the moon we had to have highly reliable systems that were small in volume and light in w and that led to a micromanager zation revolution of which we're all beneficiaries today well the question is are we going to retain that leadership in space and yet if we keep believing nasa resources we're not going to be able to wear already facing a situation where we will not have human access to space for five or six years when the space shuttle is shut down in two thousand and ten and the administrator of nasa tells us that we're not going to be able to fly the new vehicle all ryann with humans until the year two thousand and fifteen if that and what does that mean to us it means that we've got a hundred billion dollar investment in orbit right now called into a national space station that supposed to be used for scientific research and we're not even going to have an american vehicle to get there for five or six years that's unacceptable how are we going to get there we're going to pay the russians to during this five year period which we're going to have to buy we're going to be laying off american space workers at the kennedy space center and we're going to be funding jobs in must scale at who knows what price vladimir putin will charge us because he knows it's the only way we have to get to the international space station and oh by the way mr president if that's not enough to cause a heartburn we can't pay russia for space flights of which we have to go about and contract right now if they're going to build a spacecraft for twenty eleven when we would need we can't pay them for it because we're prohibited by a law that says since they are helping iran a nation that we're concerned about proliferating nuclear weapons we have to get a waiver of that law all of this is to say mr president that we've got a mess if this nation wants to be a leader in space which i think every american feels that we should we've got to start helping nasa and we've got to get the next president attuned to this issue this president the senator from alaska mr president i rise today this morning to talk about whatever was talking about which is the price of price of energy in this in this nation today i was home in alaska over the weekend and everywhere that i went the price of gasoline was the main topic everyone wanted to talk about it here in the lower forty eight as the as we're looking at the high crude prices hitting hitting the hundred twenty dollars per barrel mark yesterday or nearing that mark recognizing that we're seeing a nation a nationwide average of gas prices at three dollars and sixty cents for a gallon of regular this is just just four cents over the weekend we all agree that  prices are high far too high but in a state like like mine in alaska we consider the prices to be in the in the stratosphere at this point in time in vessel over the weekend the price of gasoline was at four dollars ninety eight cents a gallon i just met with a constituent coming over here and we were talking about prices in fairbanks about the national average but up and ale hackett which is a pretty remote little village at the prices that they're looking at for their gasoline are over seven dollars a gallon for regular gasoline in invalides which is the site of the transit uska oil pipeline terminus of of our of our gas line they're finding that regular is selling there for for more than four dollars a gallon so i think it's i think we would all agree that these prices are not just high but for many many many they are absolutely in bearable and we can talk about price why the prices are high it's important to understand that but but americans are really tired of hearing about when we're talking about the world demand that with the world using eighty five million barrels a day that there's very little surplus oil production capacity left they're tired of hearing of the weakness of the dollar that's driving investors into buying oil as a safe haven against inflation the truckers that were gathered around the mall here yesterday in protest of the high prices you know i have to wonder if if they if they care that we here in congress in two thousand and five and again in two thousand and seven passed the legislation to promote energy conservation that requires an increase in in the vehicle fuel efficiency standards that's going to begin to improve their mileage in about seven years they they don't necessarily care that we have funded the research of the demonstration of the alternative energy technologies whether it's for jill thermal or for ocean energy i don't care about the guarantee  the loan guarantees that we intend to make for for nuclear and first solar and wind and bio mass as we try to make our biofuels go even further what what people really care about what they really want to know is what are you doing to congress what are you going to do to make my the price that i pay at the pump go down you know i suppose that we can we can halt filling up the strategic reserve something that that we certainly are looking at and i think at this time a very very high prices makes make some sense but we need to recognize that that's only going to add seventy thousand barrels a day to the nearly twenty one million that we're using we could also reduce the federal gas tax which is currently at eighteen point four cent and dedicate the nearly five billion dollars that we've gained in o c s least sales this winter  a few weeks so the question that the consumer is asking is what can you do that could make a difference in this country and i believe mr president that one of those things that we need to do in america is to produce more of our domestic oil and gas supplies to help increase global oil supplies and that drive down the prices and we do this at the same time that we're working towards renewable fuels we do this at the same time that we're focusing on a level of conservation it's got to be kind of the three legged stool approach but we cannot stick our head in the sand and say that increased in mex domestic production should not be part of that comprehensive strategy now some have suggested that we don't have enough oil here in this country to make a difference but look at what we here in the federal government have done through regulation and through the mor we have prevented exploration in many of the places where oil and gas are most likely to be found in this country if you take the areas that are covered by the o c s moratoria the atlantic coast the parts of the gulf of mexico coast of florida the pacific coast you throw in the arctic coastal plain and parts of the national petroleum reserve in alaska you've got nearly forty billion dollars of the nation's one hundred twelve billion barrels are remaining scuppered oil which have been put off the table for consideration that's nearly enough to power over twenty million cars for sixty years and heat nearly ten million homes for the same period mr president last year i came to this floor actually i come to this for quite often to urge my colleagues to consider greater oil development in my home state of alaska earlier this year i i came and i urged that we simply allow just allow us winter only exploration in northern alaska to confirm that the oil we believe is there is truly there last year when i when i spoke the price of oil was at the sixty dollar mark and at that time i warned that if we continued to do nothing the prices would only continue to climb and i i i've never been one of those people that relishes the i told you so approach but i am here to say that it is time for this country to to to snap out snap out of its leverage e and actually explore for and produce more of our nation's fuel needs was about a month ago senator stevens and i introduced new legislation to open up a tiny part of the coastal plain of the arctic national wildlife refuge to boil and gas development opening just a few thousand acres we're talking about two thousand acres of of alaska's arctic  could produce up to sixteen bit early in barrels of economic oil by current government estimates and some that might not see much but without opening anwar we're going to have to import between seven hundred eighty thousand and one million barrels of additional oil each day from overseas and that's only going to continue to help drive up the world price of oil without anwar american domestic oil supplies fall sharp a predicts that alaska will be producing just about two hundred seventy thousand barrels a day next decade from our existing oil fields up in the production and this is compared to the nearly eighty thousand barrels a day that the state is currently producing the bill that we introduced will automatically open the coastal plain of anwar in the northern part of the state if the world price of oil topped one hundred twenty five dollars a barrel for five days and  return what it does is it allocates all of the federal revenues that would come from that oil to both alternative energy development and to programs to help improve energy efficiencies and to those in need what we anticipate in terms of revenues would be and an estimated two hundred and ninety seven billion dollars two hundred ninety seven billion dollars to help fund the wind technology the  the ocean energy the landfill gas everything that was covered in those energy bills that were passed in two thousand and five and two thousand and seven hust would provide funding for a lie he for weather is nation and for the wake program the bill incorporates protection so that well we do the exploration of the production we're also protecting the environment we mandate that the exploration occur only in the winter when no animals are on the coastal plain to be disturbed it requires the use of ice that disappear in the summer to protect the wildlife it allows for special areas to be designated to protect the key habitat dozens of tips elations to guard against noise and and flight disturbances spills or land use problems often ing and war really does so many things it makes us first and foremost in most important it makes us less dependent on foreign sources of oil it cuts our balance of payments deficit it improves our economy it keeps our jobs here at home not exploiting them to to foreign oil producers like like venezuela but more importantly i think it signals that we're finally serious about helping ourselves that will do it here first that we can produce oil from anwar and we recognize that this will help to drive down the psychology and the speculation that's currently acting to drive world oil prices and i will be the first one to admit to you that opening anwar tomorrow will not produce more oil tomorrow we recognize that but we do believe that it will dampen the price speculation that is helping to fuel higher prices i think it is very important that all of us start to we've got to talk about about true and meaningful solutions not only increasing alternative energy which is a must not only doing more to to improve our energy efficiency and our conservation absolutely important but we need to get on now with also increasing our domestic energy supplies and more is just one way to demonstrate that her distinguished father who chaired the senate energy committee was a champion and then war production when he was in the senate when i came here almost twelve years ago believe  that was the right thing then understood then that it did have the capability of maintaining well in our country and helping to ease the price of surging price of  gas and i believe that as history has proven that she is correct and that just the way it is we steadfastly vote after vote after vote for the last twelve years that i've been in the senate and before that tried to produce tremendous reserves of all in gas that contained in just a small part of an war now and we've been blocked and it's odd that those who blocked it and saying and funny just by the fact that we are importing huge amounts of all in gas from nations around the world that often hostile to us out of that great lake in venezuela nobody's worried about that environment all right to bring it from venezuela are other places but not in from the united states and after we're talking about gasoline that has risen to the price of three dollars and sixty one cents a gallon this morning one year ago it was two eighty four two years ago it was to seventy four as a result the american family is paying about seventy five dollars a month a two car family more for the same amount of gasoline they were buying previously this impacts our economy adversely it's a transfer percent of our oil from foreign countries at the cost he estimates of six hundred billion dollars a year we're sending six hundred billion dollars a year t foreign countries of to import to all that we will utilizing taban pickens referred to that in an american spectator article recently as their greatest well transfer in the clearly pushing the limits on that but if we could do more cellulosic ethanol we could do better at support of the increase in the gas mileage which we did pass which will have a significant reduction in our demand but as the population of america our country is growing even if we reduce our own individual use we're going to have had them and in our country for years to come it's a question of where are we going to get it i support h id automobiles support diesel automobiles in fact diesel is is just as clean our cleaner in terms of c o two and is a thirty percent gets thirty percent better gas mileage than our regular automobiles gasoline automobiles europeans utilize it fifty percent of their cars are now diesel and it actually gets the same gas mileage and emits the same or last c o two than hybrids did you know they're so somehow we've fiddled around the here and ended up not promoting diesel in an effective way and they're saying the price of diesel fuel which should be cheaper  sixty cents more per gallon at the pump and i'd like to know more about why that's happening and i think it's got to be a combination of things but i think congress needs to look into that and i hope that in energy committe we'll have some hearings on that particular question but let me talk about some of the reserves we have in our country in our country in two thousand and five this congress directed the department of interior to study our reserves on the outer continental shelf and i'm from alabama where we have our gulf coast area they found that eight point five billion barrels of oil is currently known to exist of the nation shoulders in addition the study estimated that approximately eighty six billion barrels of all also exists in those areas that just have not been charted yet the s geological survey and private industry so estimate that approximately twenty five billion barrels of all exist all in show or in the lower forty eight states and in alaska this is this man to approximately one hundred nineteen billion barrels of all of a lable to the united states in our country off our shores alone fall which we don't have to pay any foreign nation any production that we get as senator murkowski indicated from alaska can create profits to come to the united states and not the foreign countries and then we can use it to accelerate nuclear now there are some additional sources in our country immense proportions and these world prices it is proven to be already economically feasible to develop one is all shale the congressional research service our own independent research service estimates this country's all shale reserves to be a of approximately get this one point eight trillion barrels of all one thousand eight hundred billion barrels of all in all shale the largest oil producer in the world saudi arabia is estimated to have only two hundred sixty seven billion barrels we're talking about one point eight trillion in the united states and it can be produced for less than one hundred dollars and barrel say sixty dollars a barrel and the people who produce it would be americans paid salaries via the american guy arment it would by taxes to the united states treasury keeping our wealth at home not transferring six hundred billion dollars to foreign countries so congress in zero five recognize the potential i want my colleagues to understand this we recognize the potential of all shale in the energy policy act that we passed which was a good bill that made a number of good steps forward we identified it as strategically important and called for its further development yet the new congress under the new leadership has acted to block the development of this abundant resource despite the record price of all on demand the two thousand and five interview policy act and the recently passed energy independence and security act a majority inserted language into the bill prohibiting any federal agency from contracting to procure any alternative or synthetic fuel there produces a dry to life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions and  produced from the ground those produced from saudi arabia this language for hits of federal government from contracting to produce all show they knew exactly what they were doing and that was exactly the purpose of that language it really should be repealed is misguided is wrong the energy act of two thousand and five directed the bureau of land management to lease federal lands for all shale research and development projects yet the congress and this same bill acted to block the development of this provision so we pass it in all five and they come along in blocking language was inserted actually this stand in the consolidated appropriations act passed the on the most appropriations bill at the end of last session that prohibited front from being used to technology we need advancement in abil to do bacon's on conserve energy and at the same time wow we are making that progress we do not need to be devastating our economy transferring six hundred billion dollars a year to foreign countries when we could produce so much more here at home i thank the chair and you have a phone as president and i'm from texas this present  much more time and money because a lot of decide eight minutes this president ask unanimous consent to speak for up to ten minutes as if in morning business without objection i think the chair mr president i don't i don't blame the american people for being upset at the sort of price of gasoline that they have to pay at the pump and frankly the biggest cause of those high prices are  united states congress spend two years since speaker pelosi said that her party the democratic party had a commonsense plan to bring down prices at the pump and i'm to wonder how long we'll have to wait to hear what that commonsense plan is so far all we've heard is the is an escalation of the blame game which of course here in washington c inside the beltway is a world class sport the problem with the blame game is it doesn't actually solve any problems and i think what the american people are frustrated about among other things is congress's intransi un responsiveness and its unwillingness to listen to their concerns legitimate concerns about how they're going to balance their family budget particularly when it comes to the rising cost of gasoline and the rising cost of health care well as you can see in the two years that have gone by that almost two years we've gone from two dollars and thirty three cents for an average price of a gallon of gas to three dollars and sixty one cents that translates for an average family of about a fourteen hundred a dollar increase in expenses a year associated with their gasoline costs fourteen hundred dollars a year so the federal government has essentially impose an additional tax by its inaction on the average working family in this country and frankly we have the tools available to us to remove that tax and remove that burden if we will just simply exercise our ability to use those tools in order to begin to see that bring that price at the pump down we know that history has shown that raising taxes on oil companies is no solution because ultimately you know who ends up paying for tax increases also only there passed on down to the consumer so it may be fashionable to beat up on big oil and say let's tax the oil companies because they're making too much money but you know what if we raise taxes on the oil companies we all end up paying an increased price of gasoline at the pump it also has the effect as we saw from one thousand nine hundred eighty to one thousand nine hundred eight that the so called wouldn't fall profits tax actually caused a decline in american oil production reducing domestic production by as much as eight percent so for those who are worried as i am about our dependence on imported oil from foreign sources a windfall profits tax is simply no answer at all and in fact it's counterproductive course the problem then is the same as a problem is today and that is shortage of oil around the world i've said it before and i'll say it again congress can pass a lot of laws we can repeal some laws but we cannot repeal the law of supply and demand and other countries around the world have or want more of what we have in this country which is unheralded prosperity primarily because of our use of a disproportionate amount of energy that india and china and growing countries like those with a billion people each are using more energy and we're not seeing the supply go up particularly here at home we know that congress has been one of the biggest obstructions to increasing oil supply and lower prices at the pump my staff help me research these figures to make sure that we had justification for them but you know as we see oil now approaching maybe it's gone over one hundred twenty dollars a barrel today that if we were to develop the known resources that we have available in alaska that the senator from alaska just talked about senator murkowski it would be the equivalent of fifty five dollars a barrel oil one hundred twenty dollars a barrel foreign oil versus fifty five dollars a barrel american oil if we were to develop more the outer continental shelf in places like the gulf of mexico even beyond the horizon where you can't even see it from shore we could produce that oil from american reserves in the outer continental shelf at a price of roughly sixty three dollars a barrel sixty three dollars a barrel american oil versus one hundred twenty dollars a barrel of foreign oil seems to be  like we are missing a great opportunity here not only to help bring down the major price driver of gasoline costs seventy percent of the cost of gasoline is the cost of oil but also to make ourselves more secure and less dependent on foreign sources of oil and hansen our national security and help bolstering our economy at the same time but as you've heard congress has consistently thrown a roadblock into accessing the sources of american oil now some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have proposed another so called solution to low supplies and said you know what we're going to take opec to court let's sue somebody and you know unfortunate that is an all too common proposed solution where we're going to litigate regulate and increase taxes but frankly it's a little bit well more than a little bit impractical and it would make us even more hopelessly tied to foreign nations and their production whims so if your solution is let's sue opec and force them to sell us more oil does that make us less dependent on foreign sources or more dependent i would suggest that even if it were practical which it's not it would make us more dependent on foreign oil and is not a solution now we need to remember just how much of an impact that high energy prices have on everyday lives of working americans high prices drive up the costs of all methods of travel or here this week talking about our airlines and we know what economic pressure has been put on the airline industry and on prices on tickets that continue to go up because frankly the price of fuel is coming close to bankrupting the airline industry and driving those costs but of course it's unclear whether it's the cost of driving the kids to school or driving to work this these high gasoline prices impact everyday americans all across our great country and as the senator from alabama noted sometimes congress's best of intentions backfire in things like ethanol subsidies using corn using food for fuel and leading to skyrocketing helping to lead to skyrocketing food costs and not to mention  livestock feed and other unintended consequences we need to recognize that while developing renewable fuels certainly have their place as a part of the answer no single solution is a panacea all of these have to add to our energy diversity and their energy mix in order to provide the relief that the american people want and need increasing the supply which will help bring down the cost of oil and the cost of gasoline as i said earlier must begin here at home using america's natural resources why congress would mandate in effect that we can't buy america we have to buy foreign when it comes to oil is beyond me and it just doesn't make any sense we can develop environmentally responses responsible all production right here at home if congress would simply act and the only real commonsense near term solution to bringing down prices at the pump is to take advantage of the enormous natural resources we have right here at home it's estimated that if congress stop handcuffing american energy production right here at home we could produce an additional two point seven to three million barrels of oil a day that would be three million barrels of oil a day less that we would have to buy from canada from venezuela and from up nations in the middle east allowing american production would send a strong message that the american to the american people and to the financial markets that we're working as quickly as possible to drive down gas prices for the american families it would reduce the speculation on the commodities markets that are driving helping to drive up the price of oil because when the financial markets see american congress doing nothing and seeing the supply of oil remain static and seeing the demand increase it's going to continue to drive prices higher and higher unfortunate we've seen too many members of congress block sound energy policies that would give american companies access to our valuable natural resources like we've heard oil deposits in alaska offshore deposits and sha senator from alabama mentioned a moment ago i think most americans take sort of an instinctive pride in the made in america label and it wouldn't be nice that when it came to gas pump we saw a made in america label on that gas pump so mr president i prefer shake the opportunity to talk about what i think is probably the number one issue in the minds of most of my constituents in texas and most people in america today it's a reason we had a bunch of truckers up here yesterday complaining about inaction by congress when it comes to the price of the fuel they need in order to earn a living and move america's goods and services around this country and to our homes so i hope that the majority leader and the members of congress on a bipartisan basis to work together to try to bring some of these policies to the floor as soon as possible and without a moment of unnecessary delay  president center from west virginia mr president was my understanding that we were going into the introduction of the f a a bill at eleven o'clock i was not aware that any business was withheld until twelve is an extraordinary person i think centers recognized i must present imagine this gridlock in the skies passengers delayed for hours and hours on runways an aging antiquated and equated air traffic control system just struggling to keep up with the growth of air traffic a fight over how to pay for these billions of dollars need to address airport infrastructure infrastructure and all of its manifestations now it could be talking about the present but i'm not i'm talking about two thousand the year two thousand in the year two thousand and one prior to nine eleven but then nine eleven did happen and it changed our country forever and it changed it in countless ways it forced us to understand how important aviation was to our nation our economy and in fact very much our way of life it also showed how fragile our system is and i would argue how fragile our system remains as it further deteriorate congress has worked to address the security weaknesses that was that the t s a that took place a long time ago that's working it's not perfect but it's working people i think feel safe with it but we've not adequately addressed any really of the other weaknesses and we've completely inadequately funded the federal aviation administration we have a chronically unprofitable commercial aviation industry which is the backbone of our nation's commerce and we have an inadequate investment in aerospace research and because of this we face the same exact problems that we did in the year two thousand except that there are worse i want to spend a couple of minutes discussing why we have made so little progress in addressing this significant  aviation system and this is really my introduction to the bill itself is just not done in sequence perversely the attacks of september eleventh which brought the commercial airline system to its knees flat to its knees properly to its knees solve the crisis of gridlock in the skies to say the very least the enormous drop off in air travel then in two thousand and two and in two thousand and three reduce discretion our nation's nine hundred fifty air traffic control system we are the only ones in the industrial world and i have another comparison to make which is even more stunning later on so the delays and congestions were not issues for travelers we thought pretty hard about passengers weren't daring to fly didn't want to fly that much yet so there was a lot of congestion not so good for the airlines but good for people who'd i want to get places on time and as is often the case the urgency surrounding the need to modernize the air traffic control system and to turn it from basically  the interest in that becoming current safer more efficient the able to handle more packs of passengers on time more delivery of cargo and all the rest of it the interest in all of that way because the air traffic control system is not easily understood it's assume it's taken for granted people assume it's the most modern because it's it's american therefore it has to be and in fact it's the least mongered of all laid the foundation to build a modern digital satellite based air traffic control system we authorized a significant increase in the f a a as budget capital budget to meet the a modernization needs an increase based upon the administration's own request in fact but instead of investing in the system in two thousand and four and two thousand and five that is how to make our whole system speed speed of landing parallel landing all that kind of thing even taking into account when shear is all of that stuff that which which every other country as accept us instead of that in two thousand and six the bush administration proposed dramatic cuts in the f a a is this still to an equipment account which is precisely is that account which funds the modernization of our air traffic control system now i have to say that the congress complied i'm not proud of that not quite sure of the reason for that but facts must be stated over this period congress therefore appropriated six hundred million less than the two thousand and three f a a bill authorized for the f a s capital accounts so sad story on the part of the administration it's a sad story on the part of us neither of us were living up to our obligations obviously people didn't see the future under the leadership however of senator murray the senate has begun fully funding the f a a is modernization needs but the damage of underfunding the f a a is not easily repaired so large battleship you just can't turn it around in a couple years the budget surpluses that we want had are gone but the f a a is own estimates  the development of the next generation air traffic control system next gen that's when i say that i mean the digitalized system g p s system is going to cost between twenty to forty billion dollars the bill through the year two thousand and twenty five i might add that we're going to have to not only maintain our analog system because that's what we're using inefficient as though it is as though it might be and build a new system at the same time so despite the popular misconception that we are building a new system that the f a a will turn on monday in two thousand and twenty five next next gen is a program that invent and deploy multiple technologies over time i will discuss next next gen in more detail later i'll discuss a lot of things and a lot of speeches later but we cannot just shut off the current ground based radar eighty sestet that's all we've got crummy as it is pathetic as it is the f a a will need to operate that system for years to come probably ten to twelve years to come now by late two thousand and six it was clear that the air travel was returning to pre nine eleven levels that took some time but in two thousand and six there we were the a system ability was again overtaxed to meet the demands being placed upon it gridlock in the skies his return and it's only going to get worse i said yesterday that the f a a is forecasting that one billion passengers will pass through our nation's aviation system by the year two thousand and twenty five that's a three hundred million person increase from this year we cannot ignore this issue anymore mr president and hence this bill the united states is losing its position as the global leader on aviation as the economist magazine noted i  this is so horrible that i can't even say it but i'm going to because it's true that the united states is behind mongolia in the adoption of new air traffic control technologies now that's a national disgrace and there's also a reason for mongolia didn't have one of any sort and so when they decide to do it they did it digitally s so there i had a i think it's a nice show embarrassment that a major carrier has to inconvenience two hundred thousand passengers that's what we've been reading about for the last several weeks  a was not properly overseeing the airline's maintenance our nation's aviation system is to be quite blunt mr president on the brink it's on the brink it's at the cliff we must maul move boldly into the future we risk losing a lot of safety and a lot of lives i cannot emphasize the importance of a vibrant and strong aviation system and i i really want people to hear this they take it for granted you get on an airplane you go do something no you get an airplane you go do something but it's also the bellwether of the nation's economic underpinning it's not the interstate highway system people don't drop by the state to look at industrial sites or to make decisions they fly what you can't do over the internet  step is aviation and it bears our attention and has never gotten it it's never gotten it in the twenty four years that i've been in this body so it's fundamental to our nation's long term growth it's also vital to the economic future of countless small local communities something which the distinguished presiding officer from his very roots understands very well for example in west virginia are people who work in the automotive industry need easy access to asia to the salt take their business well yes that's west virginia but that's very important to me and west virginia is like every other state every there's no state in this country that doesn't stories about planes bumping into each other almost bumping into each other on the runways as they move around just too much too many people goin any airport and as i said yesterday i came back into washington national airport from some city in the north and you couldn't move you could barely you could barely move through mean it was the whole the whole airport was just packed with people not just around the counter is not just around the the gateways but the whole thing was just packed now as saying to myself this is a washington national the nation's capital highly prosperous definitely growing what's it going to be like ten years from now we won't even have this thing if we do everything we want we won't have this system in place by ten years and it was scary the constituents are very frustrated about flying and they have every right to blame us it ministration and the congress and it's easy to blame the airline that's always everybody's choice of blame blame the airlines there's no question of the airlines have a lot to do to improve their customer service and the bill addresses that issue you know  kinds of things have to happen in the airline industry but i'm going to give a speech this afternoon which twitched which talks about the airline industry and how absolutely desperately close it is to collapse  aviation structure infrastructure operate perfectly most travelers get to their destinations on time it just seems that the weather is not as clear or very often these days and people are frequently shuttled to other places to have to transfer to get to where they're going in the original place where they set the tarmac wait a long time and they get in a very bad mood as indeed they should and it's  morning that couple of airlines are thinking about raising their prices well you know they've got to get the they've got the price of oil and their fuel and the price of oil on their fuel in fact this is a very different two very different numbers but what are they going to do how they're going to get out of this and so if the weather the equipment fails to work properly because the weather is bad or even just for a few minutes the system often grinds to a halt and delays in key airports such as o'hare and j f k are felt throughout our entire system you could take eight runways not built in a modern sense with modern flow in mind if you if you if you take about ten to twelve billion dollars to do that but if you did it air congestion in the united states would probably clear up by about twenty five to thirty percent instantly so it's not large complicated things sometimes there's no traffic control system you need sometimes it's a reconfiguration of runways sometimes it's how do you handle the new york new jersey area but these are not things that are beyond our reach aviation gridlock is not just an inconvenience it's becoming a threat to our economic well being and aviation experts predict that these delays are going to go from bad to worse soon by the year two thousand and fifteen delays will become so bad my colleagues listen to this part that none of the one billion people who will be traveling on airlines that year will get to their destinations time not one that's what's being protected that's not very far from now that's what's being protected more planes will be needed and they will lead to greater congestion in the skies a meltdown of the air traffic control system and put passenger safety at unnecessary risk as one three zero zero our bill authorizes approximately sixty five billion dollars for all f a a operations and programs most importantly our bill lays the necessary foundation for developing next gen air traffic that are the new air traffic control system by providing it twelve billion dollars over the life of this bill for f a's capital investment accounts importantly senator baucus and senator murray and i have agreed on the creation of a new sub account this is not manipulation it's perfectly proper thing to do a new sub account with the aviation trust fund that will provide four hundred million dollars for the next the length of this bill and then for bills after that because we'll have to do it again so that we get our air traffic control system start starting to build a freesheet the hard work of my colleagues out of murray is unbelievable on these things as she is on virtually everything a new satellite based radar system will allow airplanes to move more efficiently improve safety improve the flow of commerce reduce the consumption of fuel which in turn creates environmental benefits the bill provides approximately sixteen billion dollars for airport infrastructure boring word large consequences since two thousand i'm pleased that we've been able to double the amount of funding annually for airport infrastructure grants means lengthening airways that means improving conditions that means upgrading what is what is needed to handle air traffic in a rapidly growing  traveling world our investment in runway capacity has made dramatic improvements in safety i believe that everyone in aviation recognizes the need to modernize our air  high end general aviation that's called jets i'm not talking about cropdusters general aviation is made up of lots of things we only include ten percent of that one hundred as far as our target where we can rightfully and legitimately go those people who are getting a free ride and i will have a speech about that i guarantee you it's a very it's a very unhappy situation when people hear about it it's probably best explained on jay leno or david letterman that that would sort of drive it home to people till then it's kind of an abstract quality oh look at those big fancy jets we don't like those big fancy jazz but once they're not doing to help in all of this they're paying for three percent of the cost of our air traffic control system even though they're the majority of the airplanes in the skies at any given moment over the united states of america issues and it was a fascinating experiment mr president which we see very often no one want to compromise so we said we'll give you a choice you sit down a room we'll provide the sandwiches and the  coke or whatever and then you come out with an agreement or we will write a bill for you they chose not to yield a single point not one single point they all had to have exactly a compromise and absolutely fascinating but not pleasant multimedia or multimillion dollar pain against our lovely bill as one three zero zero later on i will discuss as i indicate much more about that we've compromised i've compromised not happily but necessarily in order to reach a bipartisan bill that could actually be signed into law and begin the work of modernization in earnest along with making such needed safety improvements air traffic control modernization is one of the many challenges that the f faces over the last several weeks the f a a of a's ability to oversee the airlines or regulates has undermined the public confidence in the safety of our nation's air traffic system and nobody can dispute that people are in shock of what they've seen over the last several weeks says test a cli the us has the safest aviation system in the world that's what they always throw at it but statistics do not always tell the whole story nor do they say anything about the future i'm particularly concerned about the number of runway incursions that's when airplanes are on on the tarmac and they're moving around positioning themselves under the guidance of the air traffic control system  they're constantly almost running into each other or in the air or just messing and it's unacceptable it's horrible and it's heading in a much worse direction it's not something that we talk about budge but once in a while stories of near misses that our nation's airport in fact do make the news let's be honest if it hadn't been for the quick thinking and action of a few ever air traffic control people and our pilots our nation would have had one if not several major accidents mr president claiming the lives of hundreds of people over the last several years there's legislation in the manager's amendment that i have offered contain provisions to improve the safety of the carriers and foreign repair stations very controversial subject expect to hear more about that and upgrade the existing safety infrastructure at our airports later in the debate not today not this much this morning i will outline the important facts of the safety provision in the bill the bill addresses the other court challenge facing our aviation system and that is keeping america small communities connected residing offices and i understand that so is every senator if they choose to focus on it in this body should be able understand that the continuing economic crisis facing the u s airline industry absolutely in peril in stark and terminal terms the future of hundreds of small rural communities across our country as air carriers drastically reduced service to small and rural communities which is exactly what's going on and that acceleration is going to pick up so then you have to say you know we years ago we did this e rate thing to make the internet available to everybody in every classroom no driving rural and urban everybody had it went from fifteen percent classroom connection to ninety seven percent not so on aviation we're going the other direction while small and rural communities have long had to cope with limited and unreliable service were grateful to have limited and even unreliable service just grateful to be able to get into a little  because that's what we have and to get from here to there because we can connect on the hub and spoke system all of these problems have been exacerbated by the we can financial condition of most u airlines i'm going to talk about that septa new the reduction or elimination of air service has a devastating effect on the economy of small communities having adequate air services not just a matter of convenience or pride it's a matter of survival economically psychologically self esteem without access to reliable air service no business is willing to locate their operations in these areas of the country no matter how tract of the quality of life no matter how much less the housing cost no matter how much land may be available they will not go there airports are economic engines that attract critical new development opportunities and jobs west virginia has been able to attract firms from around the world why because corporate executives know that they can visit their operations with for no other reason given my and my next about the state of the airlines which is a very depressing speech and therefore important that's in jeopardy that's in jeopardy rural and small town america must continue to be adequately linked to the nation's air transportation network that's all we can do we can't get from here to an important place directly but we can link into the hub and spoke system which has been what we've americans the generation the general economic downturn in the dire straits of the aviation industry of the placed exceptional burdens on air service to our most isolated communities the federal government must provide additional resources and our bill that bill so also reaffirms our commitment to rural america by increasing the air essential air service presiding officer well knows what that is and also to the small community air service development program for four more years and we also have a passenger bill of rights which will be discussed later the industry will be provided to require a number of things telling people about what planes are on less problem that plague our aviation industry aviation conference so many things that are so critical to all of us to connect people to distant family members links businesses to businesses allows people to interact easily on a global scale we are a global world it's still amazing to me to be able to get on a plane in the morning in west virginia and be in asia that same day so what railroad were to the one nine hundred twenty s centuries our transportation is to the twenty first century with all due respect to our a state highway system so given the challenges our nation's aviation system faces faces that i think we must pass as one three zero zero mr president which is there's thirty seven minutes remaining for use the minority this time thirty seven minutes are you thanks very much first of all in the same to my friend from west virginia and we've done a good job in the areas that you're talking about because it wasn't too long ago that oklahoma and i think we've come a long ways and i would certainly echo what you said i'm a little bit prejudice i think i guess i'm the last active commercial pilot in the united states senate so i take a personal interest in these things but there's nothing that can help that to the capacity that they had air traffic and pasties so i i think we're going to be doing a good thing by addressing that that's not why i'm here though mr president we're in a we are in the midst of a  global food difficulties you've been seen on television and it's a result of decades of misguided environmental and energy policies has worldwide food availability decreases in pirates  prices continue to skyrocket decades of ill conceived planning by politicians and bureaucrats right here in washington afraid of expanding our energy supplies are now bearing fruit american families in the international community continue to suffer from these misguided policies and washington has got to take the first step to begin to address these problems now i think we know what the problem is right now we have mandated certain things to take for a diverse unstable energy mix current policy has skewed common sense and violated the principles of a sound energy policy these effects are being felt in my home state of oklahoma where i'm hearing concerns regarding cattlemen's association describe just one aspect of the biofuels unintended consequences on april twenty eighth he said quote cal cap producers all the way to the feeding sector are feeling the pinch of high corn prices today's biofuel policies have completely ignored the cost of livestock sector unquote now first congress has got to revisit the recently enacted bio fuel mandate which can only be described as the most expensive biofuel mandate in our nation's history the mandates were a part of last year's it was last december it was taken up the energy and independence and security act of two thousand and seven congress has got to have the courage to address this issue and to do with it now to recognize that we made a mistake in december second the e p a and this is something that people are not aware of even though this is mandated the e p a has the congressional given all thirty to waive all or portions of these food to feel mandates as part of its rule making process the e p a has got to thoroughly review all the options to alleviate the food and feel disruption of the two thousand seven energy bill a lot of people don't realize and didn't think at the time they thought well this is just to be very helpful to the corn states we all want to help the corn states my state of oklahoma also grows corn but they didn't think about the unintended consequences on the cost of all fuel and everything you see on the shelves in the grocery store last summer when i offered and then an amendment to the energy bill that would have put in place a stocks to use mechanisms to provide the e p a administrator more flexibility and waive authority in the instance of crop shortages i was told by the majority whip that my men that was not necessary incidentally the hill newspaper reported yesterday that the same the jordie with who said my amendment was not necessary now acknowledge s that quote u s ethanol policies may be part of partly to blame for a global food crisis threatening to leave millions hungry unquote and i'm glad to have his support in this in this concern that i'm expressing today during the two thousand and seven florida debate he said there is already a waiver provision in the bill that offers protection to consumers if corn prices or  availability become sustainable last june when i offered this to men that corn was trading at three dollars and seventy cents a bushel less than a year later corn is now trading at nearly six dollars a bushel corn prices and availability  now unsustainable and i asked my colleagues who oppose my management to now joining calling for the e p a to exercise this waiver authority provided in the underlying bill i'm working with my colleague from texas senator urge the e p a to take action senator hutchison also announced she is introducing legislation that will freeze the biofuel mandate at current levels instead of steadily in creasing it through two thousand and twenty two senator hutchison correctly noted that this is a commonsense major that will reduce pressure on global food prices and restore balance to america's energy policy that the whole world is now reacting to consequences of overzealous biofuel mandates well i supported realistic mandates in the past and i continued to support the development of cellulosic ethanol i was one of eight senators who voted against a two thousand and seven energy bill with its restrictive bio l mandates last december on tuesday december fourth i joined with several senators including jack reed democrat from rhode island ben cardin bernie sanders and susan collins in writing a letter to the president to quote urge the administration to carefully evaluate and respond to unintended public health and safety risks that could result from the increased use of ethanol as a general purpose transportation fuel the letter noted that the administration had called for a national effort to reduce consumers demand for gasoline by twenty percent in ten years in part through increased use of renewable transportation fuels such as ethanol sadly these onerous biofuel mandates which would significantly increase renewable fuel use particularly the use of ethanol over the next two decades became a while since december the world has been confronted with irrefutable evidence that our current biofuels mandates are having a mass aid and potentially life threatening consequences once again we are reminded how restrictive government mandates and ill advised bureaucratic meddling produce unintended consequences trying to send centrally manage in plan a global food distribution network and economy through clumsy unrealistic high man date's has been a proven fai april twenty eighth article in our current biofuel mandates in the national review by phil kerpen and james valve detailed the mind set of bureaucratic planners this is a quote each new generation of central planners believes the previous generation wasn't smart enough yet central economic planning is forever doomed to failure since the approach itself limits human freedom ingenuity enterprise and entrepreneurship innovation unquote it in other terms as ronald reagan said he said the more the plans fail the more the planners plan a large auto manufacturers was has erected billboards for their lineup of so called eco friendly cars that run on ethanol that is currently being prominently displayed not far from the capital this average i saw yesterday this advertisement simply asked the question he said why drill for fuel when you can grow in that sense a good a politically correct question to which the auto companies man your marketing team must have thought was an obvious answer let me allow world leaders mainstream media outlets the u n and former believe standards to further answer the billboards marketing campaign you know under certain terms this is what the question was why drill drill for fuel when you can grow it and the answer is found in india finance minister's statement that he made earlier this month he said quote when millions of people are going hungry it's a crime against humanity that food should be diverted to biofuels italian prime minister romano said food prices were raised and specter of famine in certain countries a quote a conflict is emerging between fed's foodstuffs and feel with disastrous so show conflicts and change are frequently energy inefficient he said further quoting prime minister brown we need to look closely at the impact on food prices and environment different  production methods and to ensure we are more selective in our support scotsmen brown also noted that hunger is quote the number one threat to public health across the world responsible for a third of child deaths a third of child deaths tackling hunger is a moral challenge for each of us the president the european commission jose manuel barroso has now called for quote an investigation into whether the push for  blame for rising food prices according to an article in the u k register the e u may quoting now cancel its target of requiring ten percent of petrol and diesel to be biofuel by two thousand and twenty that's what they're doing in the u k now they recognize they made a mistake the article explained quote recent lease have seen riots over food prices in egypt haiti in an asia in mauritania rice prices have hit record levels this year in several countries have they and exports india has renewed a ban on all exports of non best mattie rice u n secretary general ban ki moon warned in april that high food prices could wipe out progress in reducing private property and hurt global economic growth the u n secretary general said quote he said this deeply rising price of food has developed into a real global crisis he called for world leaders to me on an urgent basis you know it's funny that i be quoting the united nations i'm probably the biggest critic of the united nations in this chamber but also been very active over the years in africa doing the very thing that we're trying to do now is make sure that we fewer people starve to death the head of the u n world food program summed up quote global food difficulties this way he said quote a silent tsunami which knows no borders is sweeping the world on april twenty fifth the un food agency chief josh door on friday warned if possible possible civil war in some countries because of global food shortages now i just want this similar the rhetoric by the united nations and others may be a bit over the top pro prone to hyped alarmism i've taken to this chamber many times to debunk the so called environmental crisis and media manipulation of the environment of environmental issues and i don't want to now be accused of overhyping our current global food situation but please do not let over the top rhetoric obscure the fact that the world is currently facing a serious biofuel mandate problem that needs to remedy ironically the and i energy environmental left is spent decades working in various crises that never seem to materialize you have to give the environmentalist credit they  finally get their bonafide crisis but alas it will be one created by the very policies that they advocate is kind of interesting because we can recall the environmentalist community advocating the use of ethanol in the mandates and then not realizing that this creates a greater pollution problem as well as a starvation problem the most interesting is that the main street news outlet have now turned on biofuels and in particular corn driven in part by demand for ethanol made from corn have helped slash the amount of food aid the government buys to its lowest level in a decade possibly resulting in more hungry people around the world this year unquote time magazine in april seventh two thousand and eight article titled the clean energy scam by reporter michael grunwald run wild report wrote that the current policies of corn  and princeton scholar and former environmental defense attorney sera ching or said quote people don't want to believe renewable fuels could be bad but when you realize they're tearing down rain forests store loads of carbon to grow crops to store much less carbon it becomes obvious time magazine also said the rising prices were quote spring a dramatic expansion of the brazilian agriculture which is invading the amazon rain forest he is talking about at an increasing in this rare case i agree with dan rather is that here in the united states food is less often a matter of life and death but it is putting an additional and dangerous strain on families who are already struggling to get in a faltering economy rather  added said already there are reports of charitable food pantries unable to meet the needs of those they serve the new york sun put it bluntly this month about the impact of our policies quote food rationing confronts breadbasket of the world there's an article on april twenty first two thousand and seven a study by the organization for economic cooperation and development included in that biofuels feels quote offer a cure for  dependency that is worse than the disease other organizations have weighed in the national academy of sciences conducted a study finding corn based ethanol may strain water supplies the american lung association has raised air pollution concerns from the burning of ethanol in gasoline cornell ecology professor david penland called our current ethanol policy a boondoggle pimentel said it does require thirty percent more energy oil equivalent to produce a gallon of ethanol than you actually get out and it causes a lot of severe environmental problems now this is very significant mr president it takes seventeen hundred gallons of water to produce one gallon ethanol no one ever talked about that last december friends of the earth as urged the u k to advantage current buy out biofuel targets which they believe are now doing it food campaigner vicki herd of friends of the earth said k prime minister gordon brown is right to be concerned about the impact of biofuels on food prices and the environment evidence is growing that they cause more harm than good food production must be revolutionized to of land in indonesia has been converted to accommodate a palm oil plantation the land was reportedly drained cleared and burned for conversion to a plantation even miles o'brien c have been harshly critical of and yet man i consider to be a good friend in spite of our honest differences of opinion we're together on this he reported on c n n on february twenty first that quote if every last ear of corn in america were used for ethanol it would reduce our oil consumption by only seven percent he's right o'brian also reported corn ethanol is not as clean efficient impractical as politicians claimed i agree with this and i'm glad to find something that my good pilot friend miles o'brien and i can agree on lester brown who has been dubbed the group of the environmental movement has added his voice in opposition to our current biofuels policies brown coal wrote on april twenty second quote it is in this spirit that today earth day we call upon congress to revisit recently enacted federal mandates requiring a diversion of foodstuffs for production of biofuels brown wrote that our current biofuel mandate was causing environmental harm and contributing to a glowing growing global food crisis brown continued turning one fourth  effecting global food prices u s food prices are rising at twice the rate of inflation hitting the pocket the lower income americans and people living on fixed incomes america must stop contributing to food price inflation through mandates for assessed use to feed our cars instead of to feed people brown concluded quote it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that food to fuel mandates have fail congress took a big chance on biofuels that unfortunately is not worked out now in the spirit of progress let us learn the appropriate lessons from this step back and let us act quickly to mitigate the damage and set upon a new course that holds greater promise for meeting the challenges ahead and i agree not very often do i agree with them but i do agree with that because there is something we can do about this that when you have lester brown miles o'brien dan rather time magazine the new york times united nations and jim inhofe all in agreement on changing and environmental policy you can rest assured the policy is horribly misguided all of these publications and individuals now realize that peer folly of the federal government's bio field mandate need not ask how do we get here i'm the or i would say i was when the republicans were the majority party i was the chairman of the senate environment public works committee i wor successfully with my colleagues to create a comprehensive yet measured approach the result of this work the reliable feels act was ultimately incorporated into the two thousand and five energy bill this original renewable fuels standard that's our ethics as took a commonsense approach in that it prescribed just four billion gallons every nubile feels in two thousand and six growing to a feasible five and a half billion gallons in two thousand and twelve this slow ramp up allowed time and flexibility for many foreseen in unforeseen challenges likely to surface with the implementation of such a program and under my leadership the committee held at least thirteen hearings on the r f s program thirteen examining issue is from the future of transportation fios to the most recent in unfortunately last oversight hearing in september of two thousand  which highlighted the implementation of the r f s program as renewable fuel standards however despite the enormous amount of attention and the eventual legislative action enactment of that now a hearing now despite the e p w committee's failure to get ducked any oversight by two thousand and seven it had become increasingly clear that to double the r f s mandate into a shorter time frame would prove reckless in premature yet many congress refused to acknowledge the many warning signs the two thousand and seven energy bill mandate mandated thirty six million gallons of biofuels by two thousand and twenty two of this fifteen billion gallons are now required from corn based ethanol by just two thousand and fifteen washington was abuzz last year with talk of energy independence cutting our reliance on foreign sources of energy increasing supplies it feels investing in biofuels lowering the price of energy especially prices at the pump all feingold's yet this congress action didn't meet the it's rhetoric i believe a secure energy supply it's got to be grounded in three principles to belittle diversity and affordability our policies have to promote domestic energy production including oil gas nuclear corn as well as new nuclear renewable fuels i've said this over and over again we need all of the above to meet the crisis that we've got the energy  crisis in america but the democrats in the green movement failed to understand is the environmental reg relations are not free they have a very real price we should be producing more feel at home it's good for security it's good for jobs it's good for consumers potential biofuel it's no good for food in and is praised for its environmental benefits that's good working with congressman frank lucas i sponsored and secured senate passage of the first agricultural producers within a fifty mile radius of cellulosic bio refinery to produce non food energy crops for clean burning fuel efficient i'm really proud of the research is taking place in my state of oklahoma is being done by the noble foundation its partners by focusing on cellulosic ethanol we can stimulate a biofuels industry that doesn't compete with other domestic agriculture and since you can grow all over the country and that's not to be said about corn you avoid the transportation problems of the midwest focus ethanol say elastic ethanol can increase both energy and economic security washington has a long ways to go to get energy policy right the future of have seen examples of that recently but you all need to work together i call on all of you here today to set aside differences and said work together for an abundant secure and environmentally sound energy policy it's worth repeating that when you have lester brown miles o'brien dan rather time magazine new york times as united nations and jim involved in all in agreement on changing environmental policy you can rest assured that the polic horribly misguided all of these publications and individuals now realize that here follow the federal government's current biofuel mandates but once again i call in congress to revisit the next minute of this mandate but i would trying to determine what effect this has on our food supplies and the only way to do it is to stop is to stop the mandates while the review is taking place people are starving to death because of this transfer from food to feel as the ranking member of the committee which has the jurisdiction is going to ask for an immediate waiver to stop this mandate that i yield the floor to my good friend from kansas who agrees with everything i just said senator passes i thank my friend and colleague from oklahoma proud and i rise today in support of the bipartisan agreement reached by the senate represents the true meaning of the word compromise and shows what it is possible one really roll up our sleeves and go to work i have been working on this bill for two years reauthorizing the f a a and the airport and a airway trust fund is not only a top national priority but it is a top priority for my state of kansas as well kansas an aviation have a long history together aircraft pioneers like a large kansans that really created the first commercially produced airplane in the united states it was called the laird swallow this plane took flight in april of one nine hundred twenty just eighty eight years and a few weeks ago my how far we've come today about forty thousand employees and wichita and the surrounding counties make their living building planes manufacturing parts and servicing servicing aviation they the asian industry directly and indirectly supports over one hundred and forty thousand jobs mr president in kansas hundred forty thousand jobs and most soon contribute roughly nine billion dollars annually to our state's economy that's not only significant that's amazing candace's home to nearly three thousand two hundred eighty eight and then manufacturing businesses including cessna hocker beach aircraft jet boeing spirit aero systems garmin and honeywell just to name a few however aviation isn't simply an economic engine in kansas it's part of our history our way of life and most importantly part of our future it's an example of entrepreneurial spirit and light october of two thousand and six at my invitation newly appointed department of transportation secretary mary peters traveled to kansas to see first and i then traveled to ole the kansas to visit the kansas city air traffic control center and there we spoke with the controllers and the trainees about their work lesson day and those they actually directed traffic through the kansas city airspace making it possible for people to fly in safety during our visit the secretary heard firsthand from industry leaders about the importance of updating our air traffic control system and at the current tax mechanisms provide the most appropriate avenue to raise the necessary funds to upgrade into what they call the next gen technology next generation technology measure president this key message was delivered to me in the secretary personally and i have been delivering that same message to my colleagues since this debate the gain began some time ago and it's no secret that i care passionately about this issue and how general aviation is treated and i make sure they are treated fairly with my state's close connection to the history of this industry obviously and see why kansas manufactures this may be unbelievable to some but kansas manufactures roughly seventy percent of the world's general aviation aircraft seventy percent throughout this debate general aviation has been called to increase its contribution to the airport airway trust fund to help pay for the modernization of our air traffic control system all along the way general aviation is stepped up to the plate and agreed to help pay for the necessary increases to move  driver into next generation technology mr president i cannot recall a time when an industry has come to me and said we want to help where willing to support an increase in our taxes to actually do so but that is exactly what the general aviation community did their only request as ban that they be able to pay through the current efficient and effective tax structure of the fuel tax that was their only request the agreement finally reached between the finance and commerce committee respects this request and allows general aviation to be part of the modernization solution without creating a new a new bureaucracy or additional red tape the agreement would allow av gas to remain at its current rate that would increase the jet a fuel tax from twenty one point eight cents to thirty six percent per gallon on general aviation flights now this raises mr president an additional two hundred and fifty million dollars dedicated to updating their air traffic control technology that will increase safety and decrease congestion zapping that's in the headlines every day at the same time why are commercial airlines and passengers are held harmless from tax increases given the challenges that they face today i'm pleased that this agreement recognizes the value of both commercial aviation and general aviation to our nation transportation system mr president i realize there have been strong feelings on both sides of this debate my goals as we draw after this bill we're very clear one ensure that our air traffic control system is updated and remain safe for all passengers and aircraft and to protect the general aviation community in kansas jobs which would have been threatened by something called a user fee today i am pleased to say we have succeeded on both counts this legislation represents the best of bipartisan compromise an real effort to make our skies safer i am proud to be part of this compromise as are the forty thousand workers employed in kansas and aviation manufacturing qantas has a long history of being the world's leader in aviation achievements this agreement guarantees that kansas and our great general aviation industry will remain leaders in the sky kansas city is always has been and remains the air capital of the world under this agreement and i thank my colleagues for helping us reach an agreement that will maintain our world standing mr president also included in this agreement is a fix to the projected funding deficit in the highway trust fund for two thousand and nine this one year patch will keep necessary transportation construction projects on schedule and help our state transportation departments meet their financial obligations their financial obligations best friends and i am hopeful the senate will continue to work in the spirit of bipartisanship on this bill so we can quickly move to a conference committee and eventually have a bill signed into unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders i ask unanimous consent that there that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record without objection sword mr president i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations calendar number five one six five one nine through five two four five two six through five three six five four two through five six four and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the foreign service air force army coast guard marine corps and navy that the nominations be confirmed and block the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table block that no further motions  order that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and that the senate resume legislative session that any statements relating to any of these nominations appear at the appropriate place in the record as report of twenty nine twenty nine a bill to temporarily extend the programs under the higher education act of one thousand sixty five direction of receive the measure this time without objection sword i also ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and pass the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and any statements related to the bill be placed in the record at the appropriate place as without objection sword mr president i ask that the senate now stand in recess until two fifteen p m without objection so ordered