Date: 2006-07-20
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank my colleague. Mr. SCHIFF from California. for his leadership in bringing us together to discuss these very important national security issues. We are very pleased to be joined today by Congresswoman KAPTUR. as well. who is very well versed in the issue of energy security and energy policy. It is wonderful to have her with us on the floor today. Mr. Speaker. I think America understands that energy security is a very important part of our national securtty. But if we are going to address energy security in a meaningful way going forward. we need to do it in a new manner. We cannot just be doing the same old thing. Now. I think many of us were pleased back in January when the President delivered his State of the Union address. and from the podium right behind Mr. SCHIFF. he said to the Congress assembled and to the American people that the United States was addicted to oil. In fact. his exact words were: The United States is addicted to oil which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. I am pleased that the President finally acknowledged that. That was kind of the headline in the newspapers the next day. The confusing thing. I thought. was that most of America already knew that we were overly reliant on oil. especially on foreign oil. But it was news that this administration had begun to at least acknowledge that problem. The question is. having acknowledged the problem. whether we are serious as a Nation about doing something about it. Unfortunately. if you look at the record to date from the Bush administration. despite the rhetoric he gave at the time he addressed the United States Congress. we have not seen the followthrough in terms of a new plan. And we need a new direction in energy policy. For example. that night he talked about the fact that we need to do more in the area of renewable energy. which we do. as you. Mr. SCHIFF. have said. that many of us have been pushing for for many. many years. But I think we all remember that it was not long after the President gave his State of the Union address that he flew off to the National Renewable Energy Lab out in Colorado. part of NOAA. and discovered that in fact the budget that he was submitting the day after the State of the Union address actually cut about 40 employees who were working on renewable energy at that lab. And so the difference is really the one between actually doing something about an issue or just talking about an issue. Because when you submit a budget the day after your State of the Union address. in which you say that the country is addicted to oil. and we have got to do something about it. and you submit a budget that cuts individuals pay at one of the greatest national labs on that issue. in fact. the one that the President chose for his photo op on this issue. you know there is some kind of miscommunication between the guys who write the speeches and the guys that actually are putting the budget together which reflect the priorities of our Nation. Clearly. the priority in that budget wasnt to follow through in a new direction on energy policy. In fact. unfortunately. what we have seen is the same old. same old. We have an energy policy bill that some people say will help wean us off our dependence on oil. but a major feature of that bill is to provide more taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry. Now. I have got to believe that the American people are scratching their heads and saying. whats wrong with this picture? I just Went to fill up my car with gasoline. We have record prices at the pump. The oil and gas industry is making record profits. and yet you. the United States Congress. under this Republican leadership. you are taking some more of my taxpayer money and saying to the oil and gas industry. gee. even though you are making record profits and gas prices are through the roof. we are going to give you some of our constituents taxpayer money as additional incentive for you to go out and explore and drill for oil and gas. What happened to the free market? What happened to the notion that here we want to make sure that the market works? In fact. we are taking money from our taxpayers to subsidize an industry that needs absolutely no subsidy. They are making record profits. In fact. the President announced that we have to break that addiction. If you want to break an addiction. the first thing you need to do is acknowledge you got a problem. Then you got to do something about it. Providing a greater subsidy or additional subsidies to the oil and gas industry. when you have acknowledged. as the President said. that we are addicted to oil. does exactly the opposite.