[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 055 (Monday, April 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   LET US DECLARE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Smith) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SMITH of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of news, of 
course, about the war in Iraq. Where are we going and how long is it 
going to take to win the military battle. I think it is important that 
we do not underestimate the length of time it is going to take for the 
transition after we win the military battle. Bradley Smith and now some 
former Iraqi officials have suggested at least 2 years, maybe 2 years 
of martial law to get a society and a people who for most of their 
adult lives have never lived under any rule except Saddam Hussein. The 
transition to a democracy is going to take time. Brad also suggested 
that we should have a military base in Umm Qasr, down in the southeast 
corner of Iraq. How does all this play into probably the most extensive 
oil field potential for oil in the world in that country of Iraq?
  This last weekend, some suggested that we are fighting in Iraq 
because of our dependence on foreign energy. While that is not true, 
the consequences of our dependence are certainly serious. This first 
became very clear to many of us during the Arab oil embargo during the 
early 1970s when at that time I was serving on the presidential oil 
policy commission. We need this foreign energy because it is a vital 
component for fostering economic growth, but considering the situation 
in Iraq, regardless of the consequences and the sluggishness of the 
economy, we need to reduce our energy dependence by serving and 
developing new sources of energy, and that need has probably never been 
greater in this country. This is why the energy bill passed out of our 
Committee on Science last week will be on the floor very shortly.
  Oil and natural gas account for 39 and 23 percent of overall energy 
usage in our country. In the United States, domestic production of 
petroleum is nearly 8 million barrels a day, which includes 5.8 million 
barrels of crude oil and 2.2 million barrels of natural gas liquids; 8 
million barrels a day in the United States. And while 11 countries have 
more petroleum reserves, we are currently the second largest producer 
in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia. Most of the new petroleum 
exploration taking place in the United States today is done by smaller 
companies. The bigger companies have decided they want to bypass the 
regulatory process, the environmental influence and the fact that we 
have already explored much in the United States for oil. So what we 
have left in the United States is mostly the smaller companies that are 
making this exploration.
  Historically, conservation has been the primary method of reducing 
our dependence. It has been successful and we have seen American energy 
efficiency increase dramatically. Since 1970, GDP, our gross domestic 
product, has risen by 170 percent while energy consumption is up by 
only 42 percent. The energy bill will help us do even better with a 
focus on more efficient appliances, electricity generation and 
certainly automotive transmission. Because a growing economy would tend 
to increase use, the energy bill boosts our efforts to develop 
alternatives to petroleum. Today, America consumes about 19 million 
barrels of petroleum a day, about 44 percent of which is motor 
gasoline. That means a new motor fuel would have a dramatic impact on 
U.S. usage. The energy bill increases research into ethanol and 
biofuels made from agricultural crops. Science and research get 
substantial increases from language that we have added to the bill in 
order to develop and perfect emerging technologies, including fusion 
energy and neutron source power, we have heard a lot about hydrogen 
cells for automobiles, and certainly improved clean coal technology.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, our dependence built up slowly over 
decades. Unfortunately it may also take decades to reduce that 
dependence, even under the best of circumstances. Shocks and problems 
will continue to cause many problems for our economy and our foreign 
policy. Still, if we act now, research can secure the energy that the 
American economy needs to grow and produce and it can result in more 
and better good-paying jobs, not only for our generation but for our 
kids and our grandkids.

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