[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ROYALTY HOLIDAY FOR MAJOR OIL COMPANIES

  (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, 
today in the New York Times Americans were told that not only had the 
Congress passed a royalty holiday for major oil companies but in the 
most recent energy bill they had expanded and extended that royal 
holiday. So we have the situation today where a bill, a law that was 
passed many, many years ago when the price of energy was very low, has 
been kept on the book in spite of efforts to try and repeal it by 
myself and others. And now with world oil prices in excess of $60 a 
barrel and the oil company profits of the majors at historical record 
highs by all of the major oil companies, the Federal Government is 
going to continue to provide a royalty holiday to those oil companies 
that will cost us, at a minimum, over $7 billion in the next 5 years 
and maybe an additional 35 to $40 billion over that same period of 
time.
  The time has come for Congress to stop this program, to insist upon 
the renegotiation of these leases; and if the oil companies will not 
participate in that renegotiation they should not be allowed to bid on 
Federal land owned by the taxpayers of this country and continue to be 
able to rip off the taxpayers of this country.

                          ____________________