[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 31 (Thursday, March 3, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H1528-H1529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WE NEED ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  (Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, we have severe economic problems 
in this country. I think everybody understands that.
  But there is an economic problem staring us in the face that people 
may not really be aware of yet, and that is the cost of energy. We're 
not drilling here, we're not drilling in the ANWR, off the coast of the 
Continental Shelf, not in the Gulf of Mexico. We're not doing anything 
to become energy independent.
  And right now in the northern tier of Africa and in the Middle East, 
there's all kinds of conflict. And if the Straits of Hormuz, if the 
Persian Gulf or the Suez Canal are blocked in any way, we could lose 30 
percent or more of our energy. The lights in this place, the gasoline 
that we buy would be maybe double what it is today. And the impact of 
this economy would be unbelievable,

[[Page H1529]]

and yet we're not doing a thing about it.
  The President, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, is being derelict in his 
responsibility in making sure that we're moving towards energy 
independence. They talk about windmills and solar and nuclear, and 
that's all great; but that's going to take a lot of time.
  We have a tremendous amount of energy in this country. We can be 
energy independent within 10 years if we get on with it. We're too 
dependent on foreign energy. It's dangerous.

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