[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 11, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2870-S2871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Gas Prices--Paying Twice

  Mr. President, I wish to speak about something that is incredibly 
important to the families and businesses of Michigan--I am sure it is 
true in Pennsylvania as well--and that is the great concern about what 
is happening in terms of gas prices going through the roof right now. 
We have families that are paying as much for gasoline at the pump as 
they are paying for their health care and almost as much as they are 
paying for groceries right now to put food on the table for their 
families.
  What adds insult to injury is that we are seeing an industry, the top 
five companies with the highest profits ever, also receiving taxpayer 
subsidies. So we pay twice. We pay at the pump in outrageous prices, 
and we pay again when we are paying as taxpayers to support an industry 
that clearly does not need to be subsidized.
  We are involved in a major debate right now about what to do about a 
very large deficit. I was here when we balanced the budget in 1997, 
when I was in the House, and I was proud to do that. I was here when we 
had the largest surplus in the history of the country. In 2001, a 
number of things happened, including policy decisions that put us back 
into a deficit. So we have to dig out again, and it is very serious.
  So the question is, What are our priorities? Our Republican 
colleagues in the House have said their priority is to eliminate 
Medicare as we know it--eliminate Medicare and balance the budget on 
the backs of tens of millions of seniors in our country. In the Senate 
we are saying: Wait a minute. Let's start with taxpayer subsidies, some 
of which have gone on for 70 or 80 years that are now being given to an 
industry that is the most profitable in our country and probably the 
world and that clearly do not need taxpayer subsidies. Why don't we 
start there. By the way, let's make sure we are sending a clear message 
that we don't appreciate paying twice. We don't appreciate paying at 
the pump and at the same time paying through our taxpayer dollars.
  When we look at the numbers, just in the first quarter of this year, 
it is staggering. We certainly don't begrudge industry profits, 
although with the gas prices going up, what we are talking about now 
are consumers getting gouged in the face of these numbers. But we are 
talking about $35.8 billion in total profits in just 3 months for the 
top five oil companies in America. These folks are asking us to 
subsidize them on top of that. So our message, and what we will be 
voting on next week, is a message that says: That check for $4 billion 
a year, we are going to void it. We are done with that--no more 
taxpayer subsidies for an industry that clearly does not need it.
  What we need to be doing are a couple things. First of all, we need 
to create real competition at the pump. We need to create competition 
that maybe doesn't require a pump or at least not very often. In my 
great State of Michigan, we are making new, terrific, award-winning 
automobiles that are electric vehicles--the Chevy Volt, the Ford Focus, 
other hybrids--that are winning awards, top-quality vehicles that are 
going 100 miles or 200 miles on a gallon of gas. Real competition is 
what we need, investing in alternative vehicles, alternative fuel 
vehicles for the future, including jobs. I am very excited about the 
announcements being made now--in fact, on Friday by General Motors 
about expanding their operations--and to see what Chrysler and Ford are 
doing is very exciting. It is jobs for us, and it is real competition 
for the oil companies that know right now the only choice we have is to 
pay whatever price they put up at the pump.
  We have begun to create some other choices, and we need to continue 
to support those. I find it so interesting that we are going to be 
debating shortly whether to support ethanol and EA5 and the ability to 
create some alternative to gasoline at the pump. There will be those 
who will argue: Well, we have supported them for a few years now. They 
are a maturing industry. They no longer need support; that is, maybe 5 
years, 6 years, 8 years, 10 years. We are talking 70 or 80 years, a 
subsidy that is now going to the largest, most profitable companies in 
our country and probably the world. Yet because of sheer politics and 
nothing else, we have not been able to get these subsidies stopped.
  Taxpayers in our country are saying we need to make better choices to 
balance the budget. We need to decide what is important, what is not 
important, and we need to cut the things that are not important. 
Clearly, subsidizing the top five big oil companies in this country is 
not a priority when they are making huge profits. We should be 
investing in what will, first of all, bring down the debt because we 
are taking away this $4 billion and using it to pay down the debt. We 
should then make choices about how we do create jobs and create 
alternatives in clean energy manufacturing, alternative fuel vehicles, 
whether it is advanced biofuels, natural gas, clean diesel, electric 
vehicles. We have a lot of choices we need to present to consumers so 
they can get off the price-gouging efforts that are going on at the 
pump.
  There is another issue as well. We have heard from the companies that 
they need to be able to drill more. Yet at the same time, we know there 
are 60 million acres under lease by the oil companies. They hold on to 
60 million acres right now that are oil and gas leases where they are 
not drilling. They hold on to them, maybe because they don't want their 
competitors to get them, but they are not drilling. So I strongly 
support, and I am pleased to cosponsor, Senator Menendez's legislation 
that simply says use it or lose it--use the leases you have for 
domestic drilling in America or lose it.
  I also held hearings, as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, 
to focus on and investigate how much market manipulators are driving up 
prices and to explore ways to strengthen Americanmade biofuels 
industries and other alternatives to foreign oil because our farmers 
are very much a part of the solution for the future.

[[Page S2871]]

  So there is much we can do to create real consumer choice, get off of 
foreign oil. But part of our deficit reduction effort should start by 
eliminating the outrageous subsidies that are going to the top five oil 
companies in America. We should stamp this check ``null and void.''
  Mr. President, I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). The question is, Will the Senate 
advise and consent to the nomination of Arenda L. Wright Allen, of 
Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District 
of Virginia?
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the 
nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Mississippi (Mr. Cochran), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. 
Murkowski), and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Vitter).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 0, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 69 Ex.]

                                YEAS--96

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Boxer
     Brown (MA)
     Brown (OH)
     Burr
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kirk
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Paul
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rubio
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wicker
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Cochran
     Murkowski
     Rockefeller
     Vitter
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

                          ____________________