[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 107 (Wednesday, July 24, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1129-E1130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. LEE TERRY

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 23, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2397) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2014, and for other purposes:

  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Chair, I rise today tell my colleagues this amendment 
is very simple. It prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from 
spending any appropriated funds in fiscal year 2014 to enforce section 
526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
  Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 
(Public Law 110-140) states in its entirety:

       No Federal agency shall enter into a contract for 
     procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel, including a 
     fuel produced from nonconventional petroleum sources, for any 
     mobility-related use, other than for research or testing, 
     unless the contract specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse 
     gas emissions associated with the production and combustion 
     of the fuel supplied under the contract must, on an ongoing 
     basis, be less than or equal to such emissions from the 
     equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional 
     petroleum sources.

  This provision, which prevents the federal government from purchasing 
alternative and potentially cheaper fuels such as liquid coal, could 
preclude the U.S. military from using crude oil derived from Canadian 
oil sands.
  This section doesn't make sense when over 650,000 civilians are 
facing furloughs--including the 4,400 employees, who serve Offutt Air 
Force Base, in just outside of my district. They shouldn't be used as 
political footballs when we're spending our limited resources on 
programs in Section 526.
  Section 526 restricts fuel choices. It is vague, ambiguous, and 
doesn't improve reliability of energy supplies, nor does it help our 
national security goals. Not to mention, expensive.
  At a time when our nation is worried about its fiscal health, we 
should be advancing more initiatives giving our military real 
flexibility in fuel choice, rather than having the Department of 
Defense to commit millions of taxpayers' dollars on more costly, less 
efficient options.
  Section 526 goes against the intent of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 
which declared that oil sands and other unconventional fuels are 
strategically important resources and directed the Department of 
Defense (DOD) to develop a strategy to use these fuels to reduce the 
reliance of oil from unstable regions of the world.
  The Department of Defense is the government's largest consumer of 
fuel.
  If we do not limit the use of Section 526, it could increase fuel 
costs for our military and

[[Page E1130]]

severely restrict the Pentagon's ability to get energy that originates 
from our strongest ally and number one trading partner, Canada.
  Programs like Section 526 mandate that the Armed Services spend 
entirely too much money on fuels. If we didn't spend so much money on 
these fuels, we would be able to reduce the effects of the politically 
motivated furloughs and give DOD the resources it needs to responsibly 
implement sequestration.
  It is imperative to ensure that our nation, in particular the 
military, is not inhibited from using cheaper and more abundant fuels 
produced with oil from our friendly neighbor to the north, Canada, 
which will reduce our reliance on imports from hostile areas of the 
world.
  True national security rests when we can make sure our DOD civilian 
employees are on the job by using a secure, diverse fuel supply for our 
armed forces.

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