[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 25, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BIG OIL: USE IT OR LOSE IT
(Mr. BRALEY of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, the two men most responsible for our
record prices at the pump today are President Bush and Vice President
Cheney. They came to the White House from the executive suites of Big
Oil, and their energy policies continue to mirror Big Oil's agenda.
President Bush has, once again, called for drilling in ANWR even
though his own Energy Department has said that opening up the Arctic
would only save pennies per gallon 10 years from now. Now the President
has suggested opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling even
though 80 percent of the oil available there is already open to
leasing.
Why would we give Big Oil access to more of our land and waters if
they refuse to drill on the 68 million acres they have now? If
President Bush believes that drilling is the answer, why isn't he
demanding that Big Oil use the land they already have?
Mr. Speaker, Republicans have repeated the same domestic drilling
rhetoric for years. Tomorrow they have the chance to act on that
rhetoric and to tell Big Oil to either use it or lose it by joining us
in passing the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008.
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