[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 17, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H2645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPLACE IMPORTED OIL WITH DOMESTIC BIOFUELS
(Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is addicted to oil, and it is a
national security issue.
The fact that two-thirds of the oil that we consume is imported puts
us at risk. Today left-wing autocrats like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez have
told us very clearly they plan to use oil as a political weapon against
the United States.
There is a reason we have $3 gasoline. It is time that we replace
imported oil with domestic, homegrown biofuels like ethanol and
biodiesel.
Last year's energy bill was a good start, doubling the biofuels that
we consume from 4 billion to 7.6 billion gallons by the year 2011. That
is why today there are 26 organizations in Illinois planning to move
forward to build ethanol plants, five in the district that I represent
alone. But that only represents 2.5 percent of all the fuel that we
consume; so we need to do more.
I urge this House to move forward on an aggressive plan to replace
imported oil with the homegrown biofuels. The Biofuels Act of 2006
accomplishes that goal. Let us pass it. Let us move it now.
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