[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 169 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H11860]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2115
              ENERGY BILL LEAVES NO ENERGY COMPANY BEHIND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bradley of New Hampshire). Under a 
previous order of the House, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it has been a great week for the most 
influential, the most well-heeled lobbyists in Washington. Earlier in 
the week the House passed an energy bill which one very prominent 
leader of this country called the ``no lobbyist left behind'' bill. 
This energy legislation was full of benefits for oil companies, for 
natural gas companies, and for electric utility companies. As I said, 
it was a great week for some of the most well-heeled, most influential 
lobbyists in Washington.
  The energy policy started with bad process as Vice President Cheney 
convened a secret group of energy lobbyists to draft the 
administration's energy plan. Citizen after citizen, group after group 
have tried to find out who attended these meetings with Vice President 
Cheney, what was discussed, and what they were all about. Vice 
President Cheney refused; but we should not be surprised that he would 
bring energy executives into the Vice President's office to secretly 
write an energy bill. After all, Vice President Cheney himself was an 
oil company executive, or should I say still is. He still receives 
$3,000 a week from Halliburton, one of the major energy companies in 
the United States. The Vice President is meeting secretly with energy 
company, oil company executives, and is still receiving $3,000 a week 
from Halliburton, that company that is making billions of dollars in 
unbid contracts in Iraq given by the administration, and kicking back 
or contributing large numbers of dollars to the Bush reelection 
campaign.
  So Cheney is meeting with the energy companies to draft legislation 
that one prominent Republican said was a no lobbyist left behind bill. 
It was an early Christmas present for the energy industry, and for oil, 
gas and utilities, and some have estimated as much as $100 billion.
  Some of the corporate giveaways that harm consumers in this bill were 
granting Enron's last wish to repeal the consumer-oriented, Public 
Utility Holding Companies Act, making taxpayers rather than corporate 
polluters pay to clean up leaking underground storage tanks, even when 
we know exactly which corporation is responsible for the pollution; 
allowing power companies to charge consumers more, ostensibly to 
finance system upgrades without any assurance that the resulting 
changes will actually benefit consumers; making taxpayers pay to clean 
up nuclear accidents and compensate victims even when the accidents 
result from a private contractor's intentional misconduct; deleting 
bipartisan provisions to ensure the safety and security of crosscountry 
nuclear shipments. All of those provisions were in there as gifts to 
the oil and gas and electric companies that Vice President Cheney still 
represents, amazingly enough as Vice President.
  At the same time, that energy bill was loaded up with all kinds of 
tax breaks, all kinds of tax provisions helping those energy companies. 
At the same time this legislation, this early corporate Christmas 
present for which they give great thanks, included all kinds of harm to 
the environment. It allows oil companies to pump diesel fuels and other 
toxics underground and expand their operations without regard to the 
Clean Water Act groundwater runoff requirements, opening Federal lands 
to powerlines and mineral developments, and exempting significant 
segments of our communities and our industries from Clean Air Act 
requirements.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, Congress earlier in the week passed one major 
corporate giveaway to the energy industry, to oil, gas and electric 
utilities. Tomorrow Congress is going to attempt, Republican leadership 
is going to attempt to do their second major corporate giveaway of tax 
dollars, and that is the so-called prescription drug Medicare bill. 
This is not a prescription drug bill; this is a Medicare privatization, 
insurance company/drug company giveaway bill.
  The prescription drug companies under this legislation stand in the 
next few years to profit $139 billion more than they already have. And 
already for 20 years running, the drug industry has been the most 
profitable industry in America, by any measurement: return on 
investment, return on sales, return on equity, while enjoying the 
lowest tax rate of any industry in America.
  Mr. Speaker, the second part of this bill gives a $20 billion gift, 
$8 billion this year, $12 billion in 2006, to the large insurance 
companies and HMOs in order to get them to offer private drug 
insurance.
  What most of us say is let us do the Medicare bill right, give the 
drug benefit directly to seniors; do not do it by enriching the drug 
companies and enriching the insurance companies.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been a good week for big business in Washington 
and for corporate lobbyists, and a bad week for America's consumers.

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