[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 51 (Wednesday, May 3, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1987]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A NEW APPROACH TO ENERGY PROBLEMS

  (Mr. JINDAL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. JINDAL. Mr. Speaker, the Nation's energy prices continue to rise. 
Families and businesses are feeling the pinch. We are paying the price 
for decades of extra taxes, poor energy policy, curtailed exploration 
and a lack of new refineries.
  The Nation needs to take a new approach to our energy problems. We 
need to break our dependency on foreign sources of oil, which leaves us 
at the mercy of foreign powers. To do that, we should increase domestic 
energy production.
  My bill, H.R. 4761, gives States control over the waters off their 
shores and encourages them to increase energy exploration by giving 
them a share of the revenues generated.
  We should increase our development of alternative fuels, taking 
advantage of renewable resources, like using corn and sugar to produce 
ethanol or soybeans to produce biodiesel.
  Finally, we should help developing nations like China and India curb 
their exponentially increasing consumption of oil and natural gas, 
which is driving world prices higher.
  India, in particular, is looking to develop nuclear power for 
domestic, commercial use, and we should work with them. This is a good 
deal for both countries. India develops its own self-sustaining nuclear 
power sources, which will limit their need for oil and natural gas. We 
get a reduction in the demand for world energy, lowering prices in the 
process.
  Clearly, the energy problems facing us are too big to use yesterday's 
thinking.

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