[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 21100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             NO ENERGY POLICY UNDER CURRENT ADMINISTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I, again, rise in the special 
orders for my colleagues to understand the importance of the energy 
policy of the United States under this present administration, which is 
zero. There is no energy policy. In fact, under this administration, we 
have declined the use of nuclear. We have declined the use of oil. We 
have declined the use of coal. We have declined the use of hydro.
  And, in fact, there has never been a position where they have 
developed any new power as our population grows and our economy grows. 
We are using more power every day, and this administration has sought 
not to do it.
  During an election time, the presidential candidate, what is his 
name, Mr. Gore, decides to asks us to lower the price of fuel in the 
Northeast by using our reserves. Now, I cannot think of anything more 
ridiculous and using a reserve that was set up when I was here and this 
Congress set it up for strategic purposes, in case there was a cutting 
off of our shipping channels and we needed that fuel for military 
purposes. That is why it was set up.
  There is no shortage of oil. Yes, there is an increase of prices 
because we are dependent because of this administration's policy on 
foreign oil. Now, we have a lot of oil and gas in the United States of 
America. We just have not been able to find it or develop it because of 
the policies of the Department of Interior, the President of the United 
States and the Vice President.
  What I am very familiar with, of course, is Alaska. Everybody knows 
that Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, 16 billion barrels have been delivered to 
the United States. Every American citizen has benefited from that. It 
has not gone overseas. It was from Prudhoe Bay, developed in 1973 by 
this Congress because we had an embargo in place.
  What else do we have in Alaska? We have in Alaska a place called 1002 
area, right here, right here, 74 miles from the existing pipeline that 
could deliver us a million barrels a day for the next hundred years.
  Everybody said what is a million barrels a day? I heard the other 
night that my so-called candidate, Mr. Gore, he is not my candidate, 
but the candidate of many unenlightened people, Mr. Gore said we should 
not destroy the pristine areas, the last ones we have in Alaska. 
Alaska, every area you see in Alaska has been set aside here, here, 
here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, all the way 
around 147 million acres of land, set aside for wilderness for a great 
purpose for the American people. Right up here we have 1.5 million 
acres that has the potential, 39 billion barrels of oil.

                              {time}  1345

  That is 39 billion barrels of oil, a million barrels a day which we 
are now buying from Saddam Hussein that we could be producing and 
shipping through our pipeline to the American people. But what does Mr. 
Gore say? Oh, we cannot develop it.
  Show me one area where he suggested developing will occur. He has not 
done it in his 8 years, he did not do it when he was in the House, and 
he did not do it while he was in the Senate. He does not believe in it.
  To have him say now that we are going to use the reserve and not 
support opening this ANWR area to me is ridiculous.
  By the way, Mr. Speaker, the footprint is less than 12,000 acres, to 
give the American people, give the American people 1 million barrels a 
day for the next 100 years. That is what is so crucially important.
  But along those lines, keep in mind there has been no energy policy 
by Mr. Gore. He has none now; and he will have none in the future, 
other than the fact he wants us all to peddle bicycles. That is his 
idea.
  He raised taxes while he was in the Senate, and he has proposed 
raising taxes while he was Vice President. Remember, Mr. Speaker, and 
my colleagues who drive back and forth and fly an airplane, those taxes 
were raised supposedly to stop our consumption. It has not done so, and 
in the meantime we have become more dependent, 57 percent today and by 
the year 2005 it will be 60 percent, which we will be dependent upon 
foreign countries for oil.
  By the way, anytime someone controls us 60 percent, we will do 
anything they tell us to do. As bad as it is, we will do it because 
they control us. That is what this administration has done to us; they 
have made us subservient to the foreign countries and not America.
  I always hear the Vice President talk about big oil. There is no big 
oil that belongs to America anymore; it belongs to the foreigners. He 
supported that.
  We have heard the previous speaker talk about the Lippo situation, 
the coal situation. There is another classic example where being 
dependent on foreign countries is wrong. We must as a Nation have an 
energy policy. We must have a President who understands the energy 
policy. This is crucially, crucially important.

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