[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 23, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H1346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ``EXXON VALDEZ'' IS NOT THE ONLY SHIP AGROUND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, America will pause tomorrow to remember 
the 15th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez environmental disaster. On 
March 24, 1989, the captain in charge of this massive tanker was unfit 
to command even a row boat, yet the intoxicated captain was at the 
helm, and he ran the Valdez aground in Alaska's fragile and pristine 
Prince William Sound. Eleven million gallons of oil emptied into the 
sea and devastated everything in its path. It will take generations, if 
ever, for there to be a complete recovery.
  Fifteen years later, at least 100 tons of toxic waste, concentrated 
by years of weathering, continues to kill and maim Alaska's 
environment. Fifteen years later, thousands of Alaskans continue to 
wait for the $5 billion a jury ordered Exxon to pay. The money remains 
in Exxon's pocket. Exxon would rather buy time and influence than pay 
what amounted to 1 year of profits for an environmental catastrophe.
  Sound familiar?
  It should.
  The President's proposed budget hemorrhages red ink about as fast as 
the Exxon Valdez gushed oil into the Prince William Sound, and the 
consequences are just as devastating. This President has run the U.S. 
economy aground with the same disregard for protecting ordinary 
Americans as a drunken captain had one night for protecting Alaska's 
environment. It will take generations, if ever, for there to be a 
complete recovery.
  Here is the damage report from the scene.
  The President rewards our soldiers returning from Iraq by increasing 
fees for medical service in his budget. Welcome home, soldiers. Get out 
your checkbooks.
  The administration orders universal health care for everyone in Iraq, 
but not America. Administration officials claim everyone in America 
already has health coverage. That will come as a surprise to 44 million 
Americans.
  The person who knew the prescription drug bill would cost $139 
billion more than the administration said it would, he was told he 
would be fired if he released that data. If only Supreme Court Justice 
Scalia were a Member of the House, he might lead the Republicans in a 
great ``Quack, Quack'' when the drug bill passed on quack data.
  Perhaps we should have heard a similar refrain when the 
administration decided that flipping hamburgers was a manufacturing 
job. Perhaps the President should have declared, ``Quack, Quack'' when 
the administration rewarded corporate buddies by throwing out the rule 
book for overtime pay for ordinary Americans.
  The average American is a sitting duck for this administration.
  Millions of Americans are drowning in a sea of unemployment, but the 
administration refuses to throw a lifeline by extending unemployment 
benefits.
  Average Americans received an average cut of $676. Millionaire 
Americans received an average cut of $112,925. This must be an example 
of the compassion the President says motivates him every day.
  Big oil gets invited to secret meetings conducted by the Vice 
President to map out a future energy policy for America. Somehow, I do 
not think they talked at all about the Exxon Valdez or the money Exxon 
owes the people of Alaska for their drunken sailor.
  I could be wrong, but we may never know because the administration 
refuses to tell America what went on behind closed doors.
  Speaking of doors, they are slamming shut on average Americans at an 
alarming rate. Interest rates are at a record low. Mortgage 
foreclosures, personal bankruptcy and credit card delinquencies are 
either rising or are at record highs.
  I wonder if we will hear a ``Quack, Quack'' from the White House on 
that one? Probably not. Duck hunting, after all, is best done on 
private lands owned by oil companies with the Vice President leading a 
Supreme Court Justice who has elevated duck calls to a Supreme Court 
decision.
  How much things change. How much they stay the same.
  The Exxon Valdez ran aground when there was a President Bush in the 
White House. The U.S. economy ran aground when there was a President 
Bush in the White House. The Exxon Valdez caused the greatest 
environmental catastrophe in history when it ran aground. Our President 
Bush, Bush II, may trump that with the largest economic catastrophe in 
history when he ran America aground.

                          ____________________