[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S2817]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         OIL COMPANY SUBSIDIES

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I rise in support of the comments made 
by the majority leader. I was in Chicago over the weekend, and 
downstate as well in Illinois, and saw these gasoline prices and 
understand the hardship they cause. At a BP filling station in Chicago 
near Lawrence and Lake Shore Drive, I ran into a man who is a plumber 
who has a van and goes from job to job. He said it is not unusual now 
for him to spend over $100 a week on gasoline. Of course, that is 
taking away money he could have brought home for his family. It is a 
real hardship on him.
  He kind of smiled and chuckled and said: They do it to us every year, 
don't they.
  That is true, Madam President. Whether we are talking about the 
situation in New Hampshire or Illinois, we can predict the rights of 
spring in America: the opening of the baseball season, Easter egg 
hunts, Seder dinners for Passover, and skyrocketing gasoline prices.
  Then there are the excuses. There is always an excuse: Oh, we had to 
switch from winter to summer. We didn't see that coming. Oh, there is a 
problem in the Middle East. Whatever it is, any excuse will do, and the 
gasoline prices go up.
  We can do something about it, and we should. The majority leader is 
right. We accept the challenge of Speaker John Boehner who said in New 
York: Let's make a serious effort to deal with this deficit. Well, we 
have a great downpayment: $21 billion we can take off the deficit. We 
can take it away from a group that does not need it. We are talking 
about the oil companies that are registering record profits--$36 
billion. If we decide to take away the subsidies that are now being 
given to these extremely profitable companies, it will save taxpayers 
$21 billion over 10 years.
  Let's get started there. That ought to be the easy part because right 
now we know what is going on. We are paying for these high gasoline 
prices three times: First, when we fill up our tanks. Oh, they hit us 
hard there--$60, $80, $100 just to fill up the tank. Second, because we 
are giving $4 billion a year in subsidies to the oil companies, 
taxpayers are being hit again. It is not just what we pay at the gas 
pump, it is what we pay on April 15. Part of that is going to the oil 
companies.
  But there is a third hit. Do you know where we get the money to pay 
the subsidies to the oil companies? We borrow it from China--the 
largest creditor of the United States. We are borrowing 40 cents for 
every $1 we spend. So out of the $4 billion we are talking about that 
is going annually to these oil companies, 40 percent of it--about $1.6 
billion--is being borrowed every single year from countries such as 
China. So the third way we pay is, ultimately, on the debt to China and 
the interest on that debt.
  Can we afford that? At a time when Americans are sacrificing, can't 
we ask the oil companies, with record profits, to sacrifice their 
Federal subsidies? That is all we are trying to do. I know Senator 
Schumer from New York is going to take the floor momentarily and talk 
about this issue. We will have a bill on the Senate floor. For those 
Members on both sides of the aisle who have given impassioned speeches 
about reducing the deficit, here is their chance. It is a put-up-or-
shut-up moment. If we believe in reducing the deficit, here is $21 
billion of low-hanging fruit. Let's pick it. Let's pick it for the 
taxpayers. Let's take these savings and put it right on deficit 
reduction. I hope that is something on which both sides of the aisle 
can agree.

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