[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2876-H2877]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             OIL IMPORTS A THREAT TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

  (Mr. SMITH of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, independent oil and gas producers 
are the mainstay of our domestic energy industry. In fact, independents 
produce about 64 percent of the natural gas in the country and about 39 
percent of the crude oil.
  But this great industry is struggling. Imports of both oil and 
natural gas are on the rise, and employment is declining. The United 
States now imports over half of our annual demand.
  Our dependency on foreign oil costs about $60 billion annually and 
makes up a substantial part of our trade deficit.
  Just over a year ago, President Clinton signed a report issued by the 
Department of Commerce saying that increasing oil imports are a threat 
to national security. But even as the President felt the pain of the 
oil and gas industry, he offered no plans to end that pain.

[[Page H2877]]

  In a survey released by the Sustainable Energy Budget Coalition on 
January 16, it found that ``three-quarters of the American voters 
believe we need to do something to reduce dependency on foreign oil.''
  Public servants must do more than talk. They must act to lower taxes, 
reduce regulation, and lower the burden of government on our oil and 
gas industry. As we approach the next century, we must, once again, 
make a domestic oil and gas industry a priority.

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