[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 13, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H3753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      COAL TO LIQUID TECHNOLOGIES

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, we just took an interesting vote on the 
floor a few minutes ago, and that was to stop filling the SPR and make 
sure there's 70,000 barrels on the market. The projections by my 
friends on the other side is that this will affect the cost from 5 
cents to 25 cents per gallon.
  Just think what putting a million barrels of crude oil into the 
market--and we can do that by bringing on more supply.
  I've been on the floor numerous times to talk about coal to liquid 
technologies. We have 250 years worth of coal in the Illinois coal 
basin alone. Turning that into liquid fuel.
  Of as great importance is the Outer Continental Shelf, billions of 
barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, off-limits 
based upon policies enacted here in this House. And if 70,000 barrels 
will do 5 to 25 cents a gallon, just think what a million barrels of 
crude oil.
  We have one problem. We haven't built a refinery in 32 years.

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