[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 165 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E2616]]
                DOMESTIC NATURAL GAS SUPPLY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Sunday, December 18, 2005

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the ``Domestic Natural 
Gas Supply Act of 2005''. The purpose of this legislation is to provide 
adequate funding for the Ultra-deepwater and Unconventional Gas and 
Other Petroleum Research and Development Program that was established 
in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
  The rapid escalation of natural gas prices in recent months since the 
passage of EP Act 2005 is the most tangible evidence that a natural gas 
supply problem of truly crisis proportions is looming in this country.
  The Congress took a major, first step when it enacted this R&D 
program and the President signed it into law in August. However, the 
agreement in the conference report cut the funding to the point that 
the program is barely viable.
  This bill restores funding to the level contained in the House-passed 
version of EP Act 2005. By enacting this bill into law we will ensure 
that the program will go forward with the funding necessary to develop 
and deploy the technologies to produce the tremendous volumes of 
natural gas that lie underneath the Gulf of Mexico and the onshore 
areas of the continental United States.
  I want to reiterate that this funding does not come from General 
Revenue. It comes from royalties collected from existing oil and 
natural gas production. In effect, what we are doing is reinvesting 
proceeds from the government's assets to produce more oil and gas. The 
royalties generated by this new production will far exceed the 
investment in this program, according the University of Texas' Bureau 
of Economic Geology.
  I am pleased to introduce this legislation today, not only because it 
is good energy policy and good business, but because it will go far 
towards reducing the dramatic decline in domestic natural gas 
production that so threatens the economic health and energy security of 
this country.

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