[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 112 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SECURING AMERICA'S FUTURE ENERGY ACT OF 2001

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                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 1, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4) to 
     enhance energy conservation, research and development and to 
     provide for security and diversity in the energy supply for 
     the American people, and for other purposes.

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. This 
bill does not enhance our security: it endangers it. It does not 
protect our environment: it threatens it.
  Increasing global warming does not enhance our security. Increasing 
our reliance on nuclear power plants and creating more nuclear waste 
does not enhance our security. Making only token changes in fuel 
economy standards does not enhance our security.
  This bill does not enhance our security. Instead it jeopardizes 
wilderness, ignores consumers, and rewards the fossil fuel industry at 
the public expense.
  This bill subsidizes the oil industry and gives billions in tax 
breaks to oil producers in an age of record-breaking profits.
  In contrast, it does nothing for California consumers and taxpayers 
who have paid billions in unjust and unjustified energy costs.
  Instead of promoting cost-based rates and badly needed refunds, it 
increases tax breaks and handouts for the oil, coal, and nuclear 
industries.
  When Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and other members of Congress came 
to my district of Oakland, California, they saw the faces of this 
crisis. They heard from small business owners who face potential 
bankruptcy. They heard from persons with disabilities for whom 
blackouts are nightmares and rising bills are an impossible expense. 
They heard from school administrators who have been forced to divert 
money from much needed textbooks, teacher salaries, and instructional 
supplies to paying energy costs. They heard from the people of 
California who have been paying the price in this crisis for the last 
year.
  Electricity cannot be treated as any other commodity. We cannot force 
Americans to choose between paying their utility bills and their 
grocery bills. Between electricity and rent. Between power and 
prescriptions. Those choices are simply unacceptable.
  Nor can we choose to destroy irreplaceable wilderness for short-term 
gain. There are simply places on earth that are too fragile, too 
vulnerable, and too special to drill for oil. The Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge is one of those places.
  I strongly oppose this bill and I urge you to protect America's 
wilderness and to protect America's consumers and vote against this 
bill.

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