[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 85 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1173-E1174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY POLICY

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                            HON. TIM MURPHY

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 18, 2004

  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask that we develop a clear 
plan to lower our fuel prices and reduce our dangerous dependence on 
foreign oil, which decreases our security and weakens our economy.

[[Page E1174]]

  This summer, Americans are facing record high prices for gasoline. 
There are some who think we can lower prices by diverting oil from our 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is shortsighted and wrong. Not only 
would releasing the oil have a short-term, negligible impact on prices, 
but also it would wipe out our reserves, leaving us vulnerable to 
terrorist attacks targeting pipelines and oil transportation.
  This could raise oil prices beyond anything we want to imagine.
  Further, in 1973, America was 30 percent dependent on foreign oil. 
Today, that number has doubled to an all-time high of nearly 60 
percent. If we continue down this path without new supplies and 
conservation, we will only increase our vulnerability to foreign 
manipulation of oil prices. Our only response must be to reduce, not 
increase, our foreign dependency.
  We must develop a three-point plan to reduce this dependence on lower 
fuel prices--a plan that includes conservation, diversification of 
energy sources and further exploration of domestic energy.
  We can start with conservation--fuel efficient vehicles, decreasing 
energy use in federal buildings by 20 percent, and improved incentives 
for conservation products will help to reduce energy demands.
  We must diversify our energy sources. Our own coal resources can 
provide hundreds of years of energy. Clean coal power plants can 
alleviate environmental concerns with older plants.
  And we can make better use of nuclear energy, which currently 
provides only 20 percent of the Nation's electricity. We must explore 
more domestic energy sources.
  The resources are here, along with environmentally sound ways to tap 
into them. There are 16 million acres in ANWR and proposals to drill 
there would include only an area equivalent to the size of a hand on a 
football field.
  High fuel prices and a dangerous dependence on foreign oil are a 
problem for all Americans.
  It adds costs to fuel and goods. We cannot afford to let this become 
a partisan issue, nor should we engage in shortsighted solutions that 
in the end are not solutions at all.

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