[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H5706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ENERGY INDEPENDENCE IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Murphy of Connecticut). Under a previous 
order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the American people are crying out. The 
story in my district is no different than across our country. As gas 
prices continue to rise, Washington is deadlocked. The energy crisis is 
sapping our economic future coast to coast. Consolidation in the oil 
industry is putting a tourniquet on the heart of the American economy.
  In 1983, the United States consumed about 18 percent of the world's 
oil supply. Today, with the price of oil at over $135 a barrel, our 
share of world oil consumption has grown to over 25 percent. We only 
have 5 percent of the world's population, but we consume 25 percent of 
the global oil supply.
  During the last 25 years, our country has gone from producing the 
majority of its oil domestically to importing most of our oil from 
abroad. So, since 1997, the United States' gluttony for oil has boiled 
over, and we've been consistently importing more than half of the oil 
we consume since the late 1990s. The increasing levels of oil 
importation have caused our structural deficit to skyrocket and have 
encouraged the creation of a pipeline that flows in the wrong 
direction--straight from the Middle East.
  This pipeline is not carrying back our finished cars or windmills or 
solar arrays, but, instead, hundreds of billions of dollars every year 
from the American people's pockets are going to some of the most 
undemocratic regimes in the world.
  The GAO has recently come to a conclusion which is obvious to the 
American people. As oil companies continue to consolidate, the price of 
oil spikes. The GAO report shows that, for the seven large mergers they 
modeled, five led to increased prices. Especially with the ExxonMobil 
and MAP-UDS oil merger, gas prices have increased upwards of 2 cents a 
gallon. Since 1976, not a single refinery has been built in this 
country, and between 1991 and 2000, over 2,600 mergers in all segments 
of the U.S. petroleum industry have destroyed competition.
  As fewer players control bigger segments of the industry, the 
American people lose. ExxonMobil reports earnings of $40 billion in a 
single year, and as the price of gasoline increases, these firms merge 
into even larger and larger conglomerates.
  This week, we passed into law a farm bill with over $1 billion of 
incentives to begin converting a portion of our market to biofuels. 
That is long overdue. With gasoline prices reaching toward $5 a gallon, 
it's time for action here in Washington. The other body and the 
President should join us in passing H.R. 1252, the Federal Price 
Gouging Prevention Act, H.R. 5351, the Renewable Energy Act and Energy 
Conservation Tax Act of 2008, and a renewable energy portfolio standard 
to bring these new energy technologies into our Nation's grid. While 
our House of Representatives has acted on these bills, we really need a 
commitment from the other part of this institution and up Pennsylvania 
Avenue.
  As this summer's driving season begins, Americans will be brutally 
reminded that energy innovation will never materialize unless we 
develop public policy that prevents the big oil companies from 
manipulating and from controlling our market. In fact, we really lost 
control in 1998 when over half of our market came from someplace else. 
From investigations into the futures market to a comprehensive 
antitrust policy, we can get rid of the corruption, manipulation and 
speculation that have driven the cost of oil higher and higher to a 
point where many of our people simply cannot afford it. The way out of 
this is innovation and invention, and these very same companies should 
not throttle that invention in this country. In fact, they should be 
investing in it themselves.
  This government needs to take a lead in helping every American, if 
they so choose, to become a producer on the roofs of their houses and 
in the fields in their regions. We could have wind farms, geothermal, 
fuel cells, biofuels, cryogenic hydrogen. All of these are a part of 
America in the 21st century.
  Mr. Speaker, it's really difficult to be a Member of Congress and to 
see the future and yet not be able to gain a majority of votes in both 
Chambers and the real leadership of the President of the United States 
to meet this critical national need. America's energy dependence is our 
largest strategic vulnerability. It's time that we stopped trying to 
bring in oil from every place else on the globe and, rather, become 
energy independent here at home.




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