[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H7940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE ENERGY POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, it's that time of day in the House 
business when Members of the House have the right and the privilege to 
come to the floor and speak to colleagues both here and back in their 
offices and to constituents via the cameras for a period of 5 minutes. 
And you've heard some important speeches tonight, some heartfelt 
speeches, various topics, issues that Members of Congress felt were the 
most important thing that they could communicate today, and it's their 
right and their privilege.
  Why do I bring that up? Well, on August 1, Friday, August 1, the last 
day before the 5-week paid vacation that the Speaker sent everybody on 
from the House of Representatives, the Speaker brought down the gavel 
at 11:23 a.m. before more than 40 Members of the House of 
Representatives were given the right and the privilege of addressing 
this Chamber.
  Why? Well, it appeared that the Speaker wasn't interested in having 
the message that we were concerned about as we were summarily dismissed 
across this Nation to be delivered. And what was that topic we were 
concerned about? Mr. Speaker, it is the number one issue for Americans: 
the high cost of gasoline, the high cost of energy. And the Speaker 
said, no, go on home.
  So what happened then was a spontaneous uprising, a spontaneous 
speak-in of over 134 members of the Republican Conference who came back 
and stayed not just that day, but there were members of the Republican 
Conference every single day here in Washington on the floor of this 
House, with lights dimmed, with cameras off, with microphones silenced, 
speaking to constituents about the number one issue of the day: the 
high cost of energy.
  So we've been back in town now a little over 24 hours. Each of us had 
gone home for a period of that time, that 5-week period of time, and 
heard from our constituents about their concerns. And their concerns 
are based primarily on the economy, which is based primarily on the 
high cost of energy.
  So when you see jobs lost, when you see the unemployment rate rise, 
it's directly related to the inaction of this Congress on the number 
one issue of the day: increasing gas prices.
  We've had a bill that we have put before the House of Representatives 
that we believe addresses all of the above; that says we ought to 
embrace all of the solutions that we can as America; that we ought to 
end our dependence and our reliance on foreign oil; that we ought to 
increase our domestic production of oil; that we ought to increase our 
incentives for conservation; and that we ought to rapidly explore 
alternative fuels and alternative resources. That's what we believe 
ought to be done. But the Speaker and the Democrat leadership, the 
majority Democrat Party in this House of Representatives says, no, not 
going to allow that.
  What are they afraid of? What are they afraid of, Mr. Speaker? Well, 
I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, it's just all politics all the time. They 
believe they are beholden to a group in this Nation that doesn't want 
to increase American energy. Their friends on the other side of the 
aisle are saying, as we approach this election season, are you better 
off now than you were 4 years ago or 8 years ago or they will pick a 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I would ask you, are you better off now than you were 2 
years ago? Just 2 years ago. Because what's changed in this 2-year 
period of time is that we have leadership now in the House of 
Representatives that refuses to address the number one issue.
  We believe that the American Energy Act is what ought to come to the 
floor. We implore the Speaker to put this bill on the floor and have an 
up-or-down vote, have debate like it ought to occur in this House, not 
close debate, not silence Members in this House of Representatives. 
Have an up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act, an all-of-the-above 
approach to energy independence.
  That is what American people support, an all-of-the-above policy. 
Over 80 percent of them have said, yes, we ought to do all of these 
things. We ought to do more conservation. We ought to make certain that 
we have renewable fuels and explore as much as possible to find those 
new technologies, and we ought to make certain that we increase 
American supply of energy for Americans. That's all we ask, Mr. 
Speaker.
  So during this period of time, I thought it was appropriate that 
since we weren't able to give speeches on August 1, that I come and 
share the message that is the most important message that the American 
people want to hear, and that is, that the United States House of 
Representatives will get down to work and do what the American people 
desire, and that is pass an all-of-the-above energy policy.

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