[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H4373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REDUCING AMERICA'S DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, in 2003, we spent $103 billion buying oil 
from nondemocratic countries, such countries as Iran, Syria and 
Venezuela, hardly American allies by any stretch, and, in fact, people 
who in some ways are funding the war against us in the war on 
terrorism.
  We need fuel independence. We need to pass the bipartisan H.R. 4409, 
which accelerates the market towards flex-fuel vehicles, ethanol-run 
vehicles, hybrids, and an assortment of other energy-saving measures. 
It will, in fact, by the year 2020 reduce our dependence on foreign oil 
by 20 percent.
  We need to drive by a cornfield and say, that is our next tank of 
gas. The technology is already out there. In Brazil, 40 percent of the 
cars run on ethanol. In America, only 3 percent of them do.
  What we need to do is make it so that this technology is affordable 
and practical for all households in America. I urge my colleagues to 
cosponsor and pass H.R. 4409.

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