[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 64 (Thursday, May 10, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4846-S4847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STATEMENTS ON SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 87--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THERE 
  SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 
  REPRESENTATIVES TO INVESTIGATE THE RAPIDLY INCREASING ENERGY PRICES 
   ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND TO DETERMINE WHAT IS CAUSING THE INCREASES

  Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Reid, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Mrs. Boxer, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Harkin, and Mrs. 
Clinton) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules and Administration:

                               S. Res. 87

       Whereas the price of energy has skyrocketed in recent 
     months;
       Whereas the California consumers have seen a 10-fold 
     increase in electricity prices in less than 2 years;
       Whereas natural gas prices have doubled in some areas, as 
     compared with a year ago;
       Whereas gasoline prices are close to $2.00 per gallon now 
     and are expected to increase to as much as $3.00 per gallon 
     this summer;
       Whereas energy companies have seen their profits doubled, 
     tripled, and in some cases even quintupled; and
       Whereas high energy prices are having a detrimental effect 
     on families across the country and threaten economic growth: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE CONCERNING THE NEED TO 
                   ESTABLISH A JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE AND 
                   HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO INVESTIGATE THE 
                   RAPIDLY INCREASING ENERGY PRICES ACROSS THE 
                   COUNTRY AND TO DETERMINE WHAT IS CAUSING THE 
                   INCREASES.

       It is the sense of the Senate that there should be 
     established a joint committee of the Senate and House of 
     Representatives to--
       (1) study the dramatic increases in energy prices 
     (including increases in the prices of gasoline, natural gas, 
     electricity, and home heating oil);
       (2) investigate the cause of the increases;
       (3) make findings of fact; and
       (4) make such recommendations, including recommendations 
     for legislation and any administrative or other actions, as 
     the joint committee determines to be appropriate.

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a concurrent 
resolution calling attention to global e-commerce, a trade issue of 
great economic interest to this country. My esteemed colleague Senator 
McCain and I have drafted this legislation to express the sense of 
Congress on the importance of promoting global electronic commerce. In 
the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Tauscher and Congressman 
Dreier will introduce the very same legislation. I am honored to be 
joined on this resolution by these three knowledgeable and 
distinguished leaders on technology issues.
  Our economic landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. We 
are transitioning into a ``new economy'', a rapidly evolving, global 
marketplace that is governed by new rules and driven largely by new 
forces. Those new forces include information technology and the 
Internet. We all recognize that we are witnessing an electronic 
revolution. There is no shortage of statistics to prove what we are 
seeing all around us. According to a recent U.S. Department of Commerce 
report, approximately one third of the U.S. economic growth in the past 
few years has come from information technologies. Worldwide, there are 
more than 200 countries connected to the Internet today. That is up 
from 165 in 1996 and just eight in 1988. Today, more than 300 million 
people worldwide, more than half in North America, use the Internet. 
With Internet traffic continuing to double every 100 days, by 2005 more 
than one billion people will be connected. Importantly, more than 
three-quarters of them will be outside North America.
  This digital age brought about by the Internet and information 
technology is opening new markets and growth opportunities for all 
types of U.S. companies in every corner of this vast country. ``Digital 
Trade'', including cross-border e-commerce transactions for

[[Page S4847]]

goods and services, global business relationships enabled by electronic 
networks, and the goods and services that enable those transactions and 
relationships, can help new companies to emerge and existing companies 
to flourish. For example, according to a study done for Cisco by the 
Gartner Group, Europe's Internet economy is set to grow twenty-fold, 
from $53 billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion in 2004. That growth presents 
real opportunities for millions of American companies and consumers.
  We are seeing industry adjust to these new realities and seize these 
new opportunities. Last year, 60 percent of B-to-B companies were 
building globalized websites designed to reach audiences in many 
countries and across different cultures. By 2004, the level of 
globalization is expected to reach 80 percent. Those companies that 
choose not to globalize their websites project foreign revenue earnings 
this year of 12 percent. Those companies that do globalize expect 
foreign revenue earnings of 35 percent.
  To make this picture of the digital age more real, let me move closer 
to home and talk about one of my favorite New Economy companies, 
Coastal Tool. Coastal Tool is a small family-owned business with 12 
employees. They are in a very traditional industry, hardware retail, in 
a very traditional location, the heart of New England, West Hartford, 
CT. However, Coastal Tool is anything but traditional in its approach 
to business. Early on in the Internet revolution, Coastal Tool adopted 
information technology to improve its sales and marketing efforts. They 
understood back in the early 1990s what Alan Greenspan speaks of today 
when he testifies here on the Hill that there is a strong and 
undeniable link between the adoption of information technology, rising 
productivity, and increasing economic prosperity. Today, this small 
company does 20-30 percent of its business online, selling hand and 
power tools like biscuit joiners and disc grinders. It generates 15-20 
percent of its revenue from online sales to overseas customers and is 
now exporting to more than 50 countries. By competing online and 
overseas, Coastal Tool, on the web at www.Coastaltool.com, is a true 
new economy success story and but one example of how an exponential 
growth in information technology adoption and e-commerce are reshaping 
the global economy.
  But the global economy and digital trade also present us with 
challenges. While there are few if any technology barriers to global e-
commerce, there are actual and potential policy and political barriers. 
For example, according to a recent survey of chief information officers 
across the country by CIO Magazine, approximately one third of the 
respondents feel that current barriers limit their company's ability to 
conduct e-commerce across international borders. Clearly this is a 
reality and a challenge with which we here in Washington must be 
concerned. That is why we have worked closely with industry, including 
the Information Technology Association of American, the Business 
Software Alliance, The Information Technology Industry Council, and the 
Semiconductor Industry Association, to draft this very important 
resolution.
  This resolution describes the incredible opportunity that global e-
commerce presents for the U.S. It calls on the Administration to make 
digital trade, the promotion of cross-border e-commerce, a high 
priority on its trade agenda and to work in good faith with our trading 
partners to encourage its continued growth. More specifically, it 
states that the U.S. should encourage members of the World Trade 
Organization to promote the development of infrastructures necessary 
for e-commerce and refrain from adopting measures that would constitute 
actual or potential trade barriers to electronic commerce. The 
resolution does not take policy positions on specific issues of 
international trade. It does take a first step in making sure that 
global e-commerce is an issue and an opportunity with which members of 
this body are familiar.
  I respectfully urge all of my colleagues here in the Senate to show 
their support for U.S. consumer and commercial interests by joining 
Senator McCain and me in sponsoring and working to pass this very 
important concurrent resolution.

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