[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 102 (Friday, July 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H6022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ATTACKING OIL COMPANY PROFITS
(Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute.)
Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, yesterday Exxon reported its second-highest
quarterly profit ever. Net income, $10 billion, up 36 percent. But they
are not the only ones raking in the cash. Shell reported a 40-percent
increase in profit. BP, a 30-percent increase. ConocoPhilips, a 65-
percent increase in profit.
And whom does this oil industry have to thank? Lee Raymond and his
outsized $400 million retirement package?
No. The oil companies have the Republican Congress to thank for their
huge bank accounts. In 2005, the oil and gas companies spent $86
million lobbying the United States Congress, and they received $14.5
billion in taxpayer-funded handouts. You cannot get that type of return
on Wall Street or in Vegas. $86 million for lobbying, $14.5 billion in
corporate welfare. So Americans are paying twice, once when they fill
up their tanks, and then again on April 15.
We must stop handing out welfare checks to Big Oil. It is high time
big oil companies got off the taxpayer dole.
Mr. Speaker, it is time for a change. And it is time for a new
direction.
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