[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  BUSH ENERGY PLAN AND EMINENT DOMAIN

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, we have had a couple of weeks now to 
digest the Bush administration energy plan. My stomach is as uneasy 
today as it was when it was released. For starters, the administration 
seeks to reduce regulations to encourage more oil, gas and nuclear 
production, along with tax incentives to boost coal output.
  Mr. Speaker, the President says the Nation needs 1,300 to 1,900 new 
power plants over the next 20 years. That is one a week. The 
administration calls for 38,000 additional miles of natural gas 
pipelines, and 263,000 miles of distribution lines.
  Well, that certainly does not sound good to me. I would like to know 
where they plan on putting these thousands of facilities and all these 
miles of infrastructure.
  Mr. Speaker, imagine living in one's home for many years, only to 
find out one day that distant bureaucrats have decided to take that 
land in order to build pipelines; and they have the power, the power of 
eminent domain, and now they want the same thing. FERC wants to do the 
same thing with electrical lines as they have done with pipelines.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bush proposal would expand that authority to include 
land for electricity power lines. If this plan goes into effect, we 
will have to keep our eyes open for 100-foot towers, high-voltage 
electrical that may be going through backyards and parks and 
communities near you.

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