[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 117 (Friday, July 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1578-E1579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORT FOR H.R. 2337

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 19, 2007

  Mr. RAHALL. Madam Speaker, in recent weeks, I have witnessed the 
lengths to which the oil and gas industry will go to frighten my 
colleagues about the contents of H.R. 2337, the energy legislation 
approved last month by the House Natural Resources Committee. The tales 
they weave would make good fodder for a Stephen King novel.
  I have heard arguments of all kinds--that the bill will cause oil and 
gas prices to increase, that it will harm energy supplies, and even 
that it will cost American jobs. Falsehoods such as these, while 
creative, are simply unfounded.
  I have seen no data to substantiate these claims or to show how the 
mild provisions of Titles I and II in my bill will result in such ill 
effects. And, I might add, what these detractors always conveniently 
fail to reveal is that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 provided zip in 
the way of lower prices.
  Let me take this opportunity to give you a little insight into what 
is really behind this smear campaign.

[[Page E1579]]

  The bottom line here is production royalties from Federal lands and 
waters are owed to the American people. For the last 6 years under the 
Bush administration, the oil and gas industry has been pampered by 
friends in high places.
  Consider this: From 2002 to 2005, collections of oil and gas 
royalties from drilling rigs on public lands have fallen to an annual 
average of $48 million--half the average, $115 million, collected 
annually in the 20 years prior, despite increased production.
  Consider this: Between 1998 and 2001, the Minerals Management 
Service, MMS, conducted over 540 audits per year. From 2002 through 
2005, the average number of audits dropped to 393. And in 2006, MMS 
completed only 144 audits. That means that MMS reduced the number of 
oil and gas audits by 22 percent.
  By comparison, The New York Times reported recently that the IRS has 
more than doubled the number of individual tax returns audited from 
2000 to 2006, increasing from nearly 618,000 to nearly 1.3 million of 
us whom IRS decided to scrutinize.
  So here we have oil and gas companies raking in profits and getting a 
wink and a nod when it comes to paying the royalties they owe, while 
the IRS knuckles down to squeeze every possible nickel and dime out of 
regular folks and hardworking families. Thank you very much, Mr. 
President.
  From the earliest days of this administration when energy executives, 
or their representatives, gathered behind the curtains of executive 
privilege shrouding the Vice President's office, the energy policy of 
this Nation has been tilted against the regular folks most of us in 
this body represent. These huge, multinational firms would seem to be 
the least in need of coddling by and protection of our government, yet, 
the policies of this administration have sheltered them from ``ponying 
up'' their fair share of what is truly owed to the Federal Treasury. At 
a time when the oil and gas industry is reaping record profits, 
consumers at the pump are watching the price figures flip by at 
increasing speed as the quantity of gas they actually pour hums ever 
more slowly into the tank.
  We have an opportunity here, in H.R. 2337, to make some real and 
positive changes--to even out the policies so slanted in favor of the 
oil company executives whose nameplates appear at Mr. Cheney's energy 
bargaining table. We have the chance to restore some accountability to 
the system and improve the way the Federal Government manages its 
public energy resources.
  H.R. 2337 will step up the number of audits performed each year and 
give the agency the teeth it has long needed to go after those 
companies that underpay the Treasury at the expense of the rest of us.
  Madam Speaker, every year over Memorial Day weekend we have a tall 
tales contest in my home State of West Virginia. That event draws some 
of the biggest fibbers and spinners the Lord has seen fit to create. 
Having listened to the bizarre claims ricocheting around these halls in 
recent weeks, I look forward to next Memorial Day when I expect to see 
a string of oil and gas executives taking the stage to share their 
whoppers.
  The winner of this time-honored contest, by the way, is awarded an 
enviable trophy--a golden shovel. What a nice--and appropriate--
decoration for the walls of some mighty oil company CEO.

                          ____________________