[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 56 (Tuesday, May 10, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-451. A resolution adopted by the Council of the City of 
     Cincinnati, Ohio relative to mass transportation; to the 
     Committee on Appropriations.
       POM-452. A resolution adopted by the Ramah Navajo Chapter, 
     Ramah, New Mexico relative to the Ramah Navaho Reservation; 
     to the Committee on Armed Services.
       POM-453. A resolution adopted by the Council of the Borough 
     of North Belle Vernon, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania 
     relative to mass transportation; to the Committee on Banking, 
     Housing, and Urban Affairs.
       POM-454. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Alaska; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
     and Urban Affairs.

                      ``Legislative Resolve No. 24

       ``Whereas 50 U.S.C.S. Appx. 2406(d) (sec. 7(d), Export 
     Administration Act of 1979) prohibits, with tightly 
     restrictive exceptions, the export of domestically produced 
     crude oil transported by pipeline over the right-of-way 
     granted by 43 U.S.C. 1652 (sec. 203 of the Trans-Alaska 
     Pipeline Authorization Act); and
       ``Whereas the limitation on export of Alaska North Slope 
     crude oil effectively limits its sale to the domestic 
     American market; and
       ``Whereas the higher transportation cost associated with 
     shipping Alaska North Slope crude oil through the Panama 
     Canal to the Gulf Coast states reduces the wellhead price of 
     the oil; and
       ``Whereas lower wellhead prices raise the economic 
     threshold for exploring for and producing all North Slope oil 
     and, as a result, production from certain existing and newly 
     discovered oil fields is currently uneconomic; and
       ``Whereas the export ban singles out Alaska to pay its 
     costs, penalizing the state and the North Slope producers, 
     which pay 85 percent of the taxes collected by the state; and
       ``Whereas the current export ban reduces the value of crude 
     oil production in the state by an estimated $1,000,000,000 
     per year, or about $1.10 per barrel; and
       ``Whereas Alaska North Slope crude oil required to be 
     transported and delivered for sale in the domestic market 
     incurs approximately $2.70 per barrel in higher 
     transportation charges than if the oil could be exported in 
     international tankers to Pacific Rim countries; and
       ``Whereas domestic exploration and development of newly 
     discovered oil reserves will enhance the nation's energy and 
     economic security;and
       ``Whereas the foreign export of Alaska North Slope crude 
     oil will provide an incentive for further domestic oil 
     explanation and development; and
       ``Whereas new discoveries and production resulting from 
     increased domestic exploration will facilitate the 
     development of infrastructure and production facilities 
     needed to produce currently uneconomic Alaska North Slope 
     reserves and, thus, lower the average development costs of 
     all Alaska North Slope production; and
       ``Whereas exporting oil to Pacific Rim, nations will 
     decrease the substantial trade deficit with nations that have 
     expressed a strong interest in purchasing Alaska produced 
     oil, as evidenced by the sale under a United States 
     Department of Commerce export license of Alaska Cook Inlet 
     oil to a Taiwanese company; and
       ``Whereas Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela, among other 
     neighboring countries in this hemisphere, may provide stable, 
     secure exports of crude oil to the United States at more 
     competitive prices than Alaska North Slope crude oil because 
     of the transportation savings; and
       ``Whereas the additional cost of shipping Alaska North 
     Slope crude oil to the Gulf Coast and eastern states imposes 
     an unnecessary burden on those states, reduces federal and 
     state tax revenue, reduces state royalties, and discourages 
     exploration and development of North Slope reserves; and
       ``Whereas U.S. Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary is 
     reviewing the pros and cons of lifting the ban on the export 
     of Alaska North Slope oil as part of her Domestic Energy 
     Initiative; and
       ``Whereas during his term as president, President George 
     Bush had lifted the ban on the export of oil produced in the 
     State of California; and
       ``Whereas the amended Export Administration Act authorizes 
     the President of the United States to recommend, and the 
     Congress to approve by adoption of a joint resolution, export 
     of Alaska North Slope crude oil; now therefore be it
       ``Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature opposes the 
     continuing ban on export of Alaska North Slope crude oil 
     because the ban results in inefficiencies and economic waste 
     and because it reduces the overall level of national economic 
     activity; and be it further
       ``Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature endorses HR 
     543, legislation removing the restraints on the export of 
     Alaska North Slope crude oil; and be it further
       ``Resolved That the Alaska State Congressional delegation 
     and the Governor are urged to continue using their best 
     efforts to obtain passage of HR 543 or comparable legislation 
     permitting the export of Alaska North Slope crude oil, 
     regardless of the oil's point of production within the state; 
     and be it further
       ``Resolved That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests the President of the United States to exercise power 
     given him under the amended Export Administration Act to 
     recommend approval of the export of that oil.
       ``Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Bill Clinton, President of the United States; the Honorable 
     Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 
     President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, 
     Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable 
     George Mitchell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and to 
     the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, 
     U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Dan Young, U.S. 
     Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in 
     Congress.''

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