[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 41 (Friday, March 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ENSURE DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF OIL

  (Mr. COMBEST asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. COMBEST. Mr. Speaker, 5 years ago today, the costs of depending 
on foreign oil came due with our first downpayment on the gulf war. The 
House voted $42 billion to pay the military costs of ejecting Saddam 
Hussein from his king-of-the-hill grab of Middle East oil supplies.
  Let us not make another multibillion-dollar investment to protect 
foreign oil. Let's at least take a fraction of that amount to ensure a 
ready domestic supply.
  America needs a floor price that investors can bank on, regulatory 
relief and tax incentives to get rigs and roughnecks back into the 
fields.
  As Intelligence Committee chairman, I say that our national security 
is just as threatened by our dependence on the unpredictable lifeline 
of foreign oil--as if we were to depend on another country for our 
daily bread.
  Today, America imports half of its crude oil--this is a national 
security threat that must not stand. Like our gulf war commanders, 
America must draw a line in the sand and say 50 percent dependence is 
enough--500,000 jobs lost is enough--and 5 years to focus on oil 
supplies here at home is more than enough.

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