[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 83 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H4177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        GOVERNMENT KEEPING AMERICANS ADDICTED TO HIGH-PRICED OIL

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, reasonably priced gasoline has become a 
distant memory for most Americans, yet gasoline can still be had for 5 
cents a gallon. Where? Well, in Baghdad. How? Because the American 
taxpayers are subsidizing gasoline for the Iraqis at the cost of $167 
million a month. Even at that we are being ripped off by Halliburton, 
we are told. We are paying too much for it.
  So while Americans are curtailing their summer vacations because they 
cannot afford to fill their tanks, they are backing up the trucks in 
Baghdad and filling up 20 to 30 gallon tanks for $1 to $1.50. That is a 
lot less than the price of a gallon here.
  Yet the Republicans would tell us that their lame energy bill would 
do something about this. Well, we passed their lame energy bill two or 
three times before on the floor of the House. We are voting on all the 
same provisions again. The $18 billion subsidy to the oil and gas 
industry, yes, that will really help. That is going to help Americans 
get more affordable gasoline and help make this country more energy 
independent and efficient.
  They actually do not want us to be more energy independent and 
efficient. They want us to be addicted to the high price oil, to 
continue to shovel money into these multinational oil companies.

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