[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 149 (Thursday, September 18, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H8400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             A PRETEND BILL

  (Mr. BISHOP of Utah asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, there is a song in a Broadway 
musical that reads ``there's a fine, fine line between reality and 
pretend.'' That signifies, I think, what this House has been doing this 
last week.
  There is a real energy crisis that's harming people. There was a real 
energy solution, an all-of-the-above, that was not allowed the courtesy 
of an open debate. Instead, we passed a pretend bill that pretended to 
open up the offshore when it did not, that pretended that the oil in 
ANWR does not exist, that pretended that coal and nuclear is not a part 
of our solution, that pretended that there is enough money to develop 
alternative sources when there is not, that pretended to be a serious 
solution, but all it did is allow anybody, whether they voted for or 
against it, to go home to his or her district and say, ``I did 
something on energy.''
  We were on the cusp of doing something great, but instead, the 
reality is all we did is legitimize the cynicism people have of this 
particular body. We could have done so much more. The fact that we did 
not is a sad indictment of the process of this Congress.




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