[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H7843-H7844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl of New York). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I listened to the gentleman from Nebraska 
(Mr. Osborne), and I wish to just add that many times people find their 
families breaking apart and experience a sense of hopelessness because 
of the pressures that come to bear.

                              {time}  2045

  It is not that they necessarily have bad character, but, in fact, 
very bad things happen to them. And in fact, Hurricane Katrina showed 
us in another way how America's overdependence on imported petroleum 
leaves our families more economically vulnerable and leaves America 
strategically more vulnerable to shortages or other market disruptions.
  If we look in the past year of 2004, the five major U.S. oil 
companies, Exxon, British Petroleum, Shell, Chevron, and Conoco, have 
almost tripled their profits from 2002, taking in over $50 billion more 
than they did just 2 years before. And guess where those dollars came 
from? Right out of our pockets, putting greater pressures on family 
life. In 2005, after months of suspected price gouging, these five 
major oil companies are on target to pocket over $100 billion more, 
nearly $40 billion more than Congress has appropriated so far to 
rebuild the entirety of our devastated Gulf Coast, which has taken 
generations to build. That is how much money these big companies are 
making.
  According to the September 1 Wall Street Journal article, unleaded 
gasoline prices surged 36 percent in just 3 days, pushing the wholesale 
price to 132 percent above 1 year ago. This massive increase occurred 
despite the fact that in the same 3-day period, the price of crude oil 
went up just 4.25 percent. Over the past year, crude oil prices have 
gone up 64 percent. So that means the wholesale price of gasoline 
jumped nine times as fast as the price of crude in 3 days and is 
running more than double the increase of crude over the past year; and 
these companies are gaining a windfall benefit.
  According to information provided by the Congressional Research 
Service, we suffered a gasoline shortage of 13 percent as a result of 
Hurricane Katrina. But in 2004, according to a Congressional Research 
study, 2.5 percent of motor fuel usage in our country came from 
ethanol, a fuel produced here at home. If we had moved to providing 10 
percent of our fuel from ethanol, as some States like Minnesota do, we 
would have been able to replace more than half of this shortfall with 
ethanol and put the money in the pockets of our own farmers rather than 
dictators and kings over whom we have almost no control.
  As of today, there are about 5 million vehicles on the road that will 
run on 85 percent ethanol, but most people do not know it, and it is 
very difficult to

[[Page H7844]]

find the fuel because these companies do not want to really bring it on 
line.
  We need to change this situation. The 2002 farm bill provided the 
first-ever energy title as part of a farm bill in American history, 
promoting the production and usage of ethanol, biodiesel, and other 
renewable energy sources. But in recent years, instead of moving to 
aggressively implement these provisions, the Bush administration has 
consistently proposed reducing funding for these energy programs. And 
this is after his own energy plan failed to provide a single one of its 
103 recommendations directed at programs offered by the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture. We have agriculture waiting, a lady in waiting, that 
this administration refuses to see to help America move toward energy 
independence.
  The recently passed energy bill makes additional moves in that 
direction, but fails to take America in the direction fast enough to 
counter these massive price increases. Think about it. Oil shortages in 
the 1970s. Wars in the Middle East in the early 1990s and again now 
have the supply of oil looming as a prime motivator. Domestic shortages 
due to national disasters such as Katrina push up gasoline prices to a 
national average of more than $3 a gallon and local prices as high as 
$6 a gallon. When will we learn? When will we take control of our own 
fate?
  I have sponsored the Biofuels Energy Independence Act of 2005, H.R. 
388, to advance research, development, production, and marketing of 
biofuels produced from renewable sources like corn, soybeans, 
cellulose, and other biomass supplies. I want to again urge my 
colleagues to break America's addiction to imported oil right now by 
taking advantage of technology that is available today. Literally, we 
could displace one third of imported petroleum with these renewable 
fuels that could be produced inside our borders. All it takes is 
leadership. Is it not time?

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