[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 20, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2474-H2475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BACK TO THE FUTURE: U.S. DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN ENERGY

  (Mr. STENHOLM asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, the German philosopher Hegel once wrote: 
``What experience and history teach is this: that people and 
governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on 
principles deduced from it.'' Unfortunately, this has been the case 
with U.S. energy policy.
  Few people serving in this Congress do not remember the impact of the 
two oil crises in the 1970's. Millions of jobs were lost, and the 
economy experienced billions of dollars in lost production and income.
  The domestic energy industry, which has historically been a boom-or-
bust industry, has never recovered from the drop in oil prices in the 
1980's. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, domestic exploration 
and production declined, with the result that we are even more 
dependent than ever on foreign sources of energy.
  As we mark the 5-year anniversary of the Persian Gulf war, U.S. oil 
imports now approach 50 percent of domestic oil consumption and this is 
expected to reach 60 to 75 percent by 2010. While we currently have 
ready access to oil from Venezuela and Mexico, there are no certainties 
about what happens globally on down the line when it comes to Russian 
politics, the Iraqi oil embargo, and the future stability of the Middle 
East.
  Oil imports affect national security, American jobs, the balance of 
trade, interest rates, the stability of the dollar, and the economy. 
Unless we develop a realistic and bipartisan energy policy, we will 
remain vulnerable to future

[[Page H2475]]

supply disruptions, economic problems, and threats to our national 
security.

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