[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13047-S13048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        STATUS OF ENERGY BILL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE NEGOTIATIONS

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, yesterday, in a joint statement, Senator 
Domenici and Representative Tauzin indicated that because of continued 
disagreements over energy tax provisions that additional conference 
meetings on comprehensive energy legislation will not occur this week. 
At the same time, Representative Tauzin and Senator Domenici announced 
that final agreements had been reached on ethanol and electricity. I 
learned about these developments, as did my other Democratic colleagues 
who serve on the conference committee to the energy bill, not from 
meeting with the chairman of the conference, but through third-hand 
news accounts.
  The exclusion of Democrats from the conference committee process is 
well known. Yesterday, Senator Bingaman, the ranking democrat on the 
Senate Energy Committee and one of the Senate's foremost experts on 
energy matters, raised these same points on the Senate floor. By 
choosing not to release to the public Republican-bargained agreements 
on ethanol and electricity, the Congress runs a substantial risk of 
harming South Dakota farmers and consumers, while failing to produce 
the long-term energy policy our country requires.
  Implementing an aggressive renewable fuels standard that grows demand 
for ethanol is vitally important to the ethanol industry, American 
farmers, and our long-term energy security. South Dakota is at the 
forefront of expanding ethanol production with 1 of every 3 rows of 
corn in South Dakota devoted to ethanol production. Nearly 8,000 South 
Dakota farm families are connected to my State's nine ethanol 
facilities. Implementing a Renewable Fuels Standard, RFS, that 
significantly benefits this growing industry is more important than 
slapping together an agreement cut by a few Senators in order to grease 
the wheels for passage of a broader energy bill.
  As I look at the list of Republican conferees serving on the energy 
conference, I am very concerned that by excluding Democrats, such as 
Senators Dorgan, Daschle, and Baucus, that the ethanol agreement 
constructed will not produce the long-term benefits South Dakota's 
member-owned ethanol facilities and farmers expect from this bill. This 
concern is not only shared by Senate Democrats, but many Republican 
Senators who want to grow ethanol production. Last Friday, 29 Senators 
wrote to Senator Domenici and Representative Tauzin reiterating that 
the conference accept the Senate's ethanol agreement that passed on a 
bipartisan vote of 68 to 28. Unfortunately, opponents of renewable 
fuels appear to be prevailing within the conference. Therefore, I have 
great concerns with the decision by Senator Domenici not to release the 
ethanol and electricity agreements to the public so that it could be 
reviewed by all conferees.
  By refusing to release the ethanol and electricity agreements, South 
Dakotans are deprived of the opportunity to understand how this bill 
will impact their pocketbook and livelihood. Notwithstanding a vague 
agreement to allow conferees to review the language 24 hours before a 
final vote, this closed process could ultimately produce a bill that 
hurts my constituents. The electricity provisions in this bill have a 
significant impact on the thousands of customers in my State served by 
rural

[[Page S13048]]

electric cooperatives, yet this complicated section that could easily 
comprise over 100 pages of text will be released only one day before a 
final vote. My concerns go far beyond procedural fairness but speak 
directly to what type of electricity market Congress envisions taking 
shape in the next decade, and how to ensure that markets do not 
disadvantage consumers. Will the authority over setting rates and 
ensuring the reliability of the power grid be handled primarily through 
individual States or the Federal Government? What incentives are 
contained in the bill to encourage utilities to serve less populated 
regions of the country and maintain the infrastructure needed for 
reliable and dependable service? The answers to these complicated 
questions lie within the closely guarded deals agreed to by a handful 
of Senators and Congressman.
  It is very important that the conferees have access to these 
agreements as soon as possible so that conferees can share them with 
our constituents. The Senate has twice passed comprehensive energy 
legislation in the last 2 years because of an open and deliberative 
process that produced compromise and solutions on ethanol and 
electricity, as well as other contentious provisions. That same 
openness is needed at this time if we are to construct an energy policy 
that grows domestic energy sources and secures reliable and available 
supplies of energy.

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