[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 162 (Thursday, December 9, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8267]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               TIME TO EXPAND AMERICAN ENERGY EXPLORATION

  (Mr. SMITH of Nebraska asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, American families are preparing 
for the holiday season and doing so by paying the highest fuel prices 
in 2 years.
  In addition to gasoline, heating oil and diesel prices are expected 
to increase year over year for the first time since 2008, and analysts 
are predicting oil will hit $100 a barrel very soon. At a time when our 
economy is struggling to recover, such skyrocketing energy prices could 
be catastrophic.
  This is why it makes no sense the administration recently announced 
plans to cancel further energy exploration and development in deep 
offshore areas. These sources of American energy are known to contain 
more than 86 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
  This decision to prevent energy development hurts our economy and 
costs American jobs. Let's give Americans what they deserve. The time 
is now to expand exploration of American energy resources.

                          ____________________