[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 144 (Thursday, September 11, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H8025]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY BILL

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Madam Speaker, almost 6 weeks ago this House adjourned for 
a 5-week paid vacation. A year and a half had passed, and the Democrat 
leadership remained, up to that moment, steadfast on one issue and one 
issue only--there would never be a vote on the House floor that gave 
the American people more access to American oil through domestic 
drilling.
  House Republicans refused to go quietly. We held this floor for 5 
weeks, demanding that, in the wake of this 21st-century energy crisis, 
Congress come together in a bipartisan way and develop a comprehensive 
energy bill that said yes to conservation, yes to alternative sources 
of energy, and yes to more domestic drilling. And now, although we 
don't have the language yet, there is word that there is a Democrat 
bill coming to the floor that includes more domestic drilling.
  I rise to commend my Republican colleagues who fought for the right 
of the American people to debate, having access to their own resources, 
and I say to my colleagues, bring your bill to the floor. We'll bring 
our bill to the floor. Make it an open debate. Let us cast the votes, 
and let us lay forward a blueprint for energy independence in the 21st 
century as the bipartisan accomplishment of this Congress.

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