[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 129 (Thursday, October 6, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H8709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FUEL PRICES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Osborne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OSBORNE. Mr. Speaker, as I travel my district in Nebraska, the 
number one concern is high fuel prices, and I would assume that is true 
for a great many Members in this Chamber. The reasons are somewhat 
obvious. Worldwide demand for petroleum has increased. China and India 
are using more oil than ever before. We are nearly 60 percent dependent 
on foreign oil at the present time. OPEC can, to some degree, set oil 
prices because of that. And of course more recently the hurricanes have 
shut down some of our refineries.
  So we took a good first step last July in passing the energy bill. 
The renewable fuel standards require 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol or 
biodiesel by 2012, which nearly doubles the amount of renewable fuels. 
Also the energy bill expedites access to 2 trillion barrels of oil in 
U.S. oil shale deposits. And also it promotes an initiative for the 
production of hydrogen fuel cells, which I think in 15 to 20 years can 
pretty much remove demand for petroleum fuel products.
  However, we do need some immediate relief, something quicker than the 
energy bill passed in July can provide. We have had no new refineries 
built since 1976. It is almost impossible to get a building permit for 
a new refinery, and so as a result our refineries are operating at 
roughly 95 percent of full capacity, whereas most in the industry 
operate somewhere around 75 percent to 80 percent of capacity. So any 
slight disruption in the process can put us right over the edge, as 
happened with the hurricanes.
  Many Americans are currently spending 10 percent of their income on 
gasoline, particularly low-income Americans. The agriculture profits 
have been eaten up by high fuel costs, so many farmers in my area are 
losing money because of the high fuel costs.
  The Gasoline for Americas Security Act of 2005 will be introduced 
tomorrow, and we will vote on it. I think there are some tremendous 
aspects of this bill. Number one, it encourages increased refinery 
capacity by removing regulatory and permitting roadblocks. We have not 
been able to build one because of all of the environmental concerns.
  Number two, it reduces the boutique fuels from somewhere in the 
neighborhood of 40 to six. Every time you switch from one type of fuel 
to another, you shut down the refinery, clean out all of the pipes, 
very time-consuming and very expensive; and this reduces that process 
to about six types of fuel. It also removes red tape from pipeline 
construction.
  Above all, one of the most important things, it removes the loan 
guarantees on the Alaska pipeline unless that pipeline is started 
within the next 2 years. So far we need that pipeline badly because we 
need the gas that comes from Canada and Alaska, and that pipeline would 
provide a very valuable source.
  Fourth, it promotes carpooling through education and incentives which 
will save petroleum.
  And last, it prevents price gouging and requires the Federal Trade 
Commission to draft a standard definition of price gouging, because 
right now everybody has their own definition, and it will provide some 
enforcement guidelines.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is a good bill. I am looking forward to it. I 
think it can provide some immediate relief in this country in an area 
where we can stand some help.

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