[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19578-19579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2003

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. 14, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 14) to enhance the energy security of the United 
     States, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Campbell amendment No. 886, to replace ``tribal consortia'' 
     with ``tribal energy resource development organizations.''
       Durbin amendment No. 1384, to amend title 49, United States 
     Code, to improve the system for enhancing automobile fuel 
     efficiency.
       Durbin modified amendment No. 1385, to amend the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 to provide additional tax incentives for 
     enhancing motor vehicle fuel efficiency.
       Bond amendment No. 1386, to impose additional requirements 
     for improving automobile fuel economy and reducing vehicle 
     emissions.

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, Senator Domenici, chairman of the Energy 
and Natural Resources Committee, will be here soon to manage this bill 
for the remainder of the morning. But I want to say at the outset, we 
are now involved in a national energy policy debate that will run 
through the balance of next week.
  I thank to Senator Domenici, as chairman of the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee, for the way he has handled this critical issue for 
our Nation. He held thorough hearings on the importance of a balanced 
national energy policy for our country. Much of the lead was taken by 
our President when he took office over 2 years ago as he outlined this 
issue as one of the highest priorities for our country.
  Senator Domenici then began to work with all of us on that committee, 
Democrats and Republicans, to craft a truly bipartisan and balanced 
piece of legislation. That is S. 14, the bill we have before us, a 
national energy policy for our country. When I say ``balanced,'' Mr. 
President, as you know, one of the true problems in our country today 
is the failure to keep our energy production levels up with the demands 
of a growing economy.
  Largely through the decade of the 1990s, we lived off the surpluses 
we had generated by increased capacity being built in the decades of 
the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s. But that surplus ran out in the late 
1990s. We began to see the blackouts and the brownouts in California. 
We began to see energy prices increase. Our dependency on oil from 
foreign nations progressively grew during the decade of the 1990s, from 
percentages in the low 40s to the 60s. And, of course, as the Presiding 
Officer knows, the senior Senator from Alaska, Alaska became during 
that period of several decades a prime producer of high-quality crude 
for this Nation, and still has tremendous oil reserves in Alaska that 
could be made available if the politics were allowed to let that 
happen. But that has not happened.
  Senator Domenici recognizes that, and in the crafting of this bill 
did a combination of things, in cooperation with all of us, to 
recognize the need to get this country back into the production of 
energy while at the same time recognizing the importance of 
conservation, recognizing the importance of our environment, and that 
the energies we produce in the decade of 2000 to 2010 and beyond be 
clean sources of energy, and also recognizing the application of 
technology and the development of hydrogen fuel cells and wind and 
photovoltaic.
  Also, the Senator from New Mexico and I have worked very closely over 
the last nearly two decades building a case for the return of the 
cleanest, most abundant source of energy for our country: electricity 
generated by the nuclear generation process and nuclear reactors.
  There has been a schism or a belief in our country that somehow this 
was not a safe way to generate electricity, and that we could not 
manage the waste stream produced from nuclear reactors. Quite the 
opposite is now true. Not only have we moved significantly in the 
development of a clean waste stream, but this legislation also speaks 
to what we now call Generation IV or new passive reactors this 
legislation would authorize the design and development of for future 
generations. This is, without question--other than wind, solar, and 
hydro--the cleanest form of energy we have because it can produce 
energy at high, sustained levels to meet the demand of a high-tech 
economy and, at the same time, do it very cleanly.
  This bill is a complete and balanced energy policy for our Nation. As 
I have said, it puts us back into the business of producing energy. It 
recognizes conservation. It recognizes technology. Our President has 
challenged us to develop hydrogen as a new source of transportation 
fuel for our country. This legislation deals with those issues, and I 
think it does so in not only a comprehensive and environmentally 
sensitive way, but it clearly recognizes that this economy runs on 
energy, period, end of statement.
  Every one of us today started our day using energy. The clock that 
awakened us, the radio that turned on was turned on by energy. The cool 
room we slept in last night was cooled by energy. Many of you probably 
brushed your teeth with an electric toothbrush this morning fueled by 
energy. The water that surged out of the tap in your bathroom or from 
the nozzle of your shower this morning--the pressure was produced by 
energy. And it goes on and on.
  When you went into your kitchen and opened the refrigerator to get 
out a glass of orange juice, the refrigerator was cooled by energy. The 
orange juice was processed by energy--and so on.
  Did you walk here this morning? If you did, you used your own energy, 
but it was generated by all those other sources of energy. But if you 
drove here, then you used the standard form of energy that has kept 
this economy so vibrant for so many decades. Without question, we are 
an energy-intensive, extensive, involved economy. Without an abundant, 
available source of energy in all forms, this economy does not function 
well or it becomes increasingly dependent on those nations that produce 
energy and sell it to us.
  Senator Domenici, myself, and others serving on the Energy Committee 
have recognized that, I believe, in a responsible way in S. 14. Now we 
have the opportunity to complete the debate on this legislation. There 
are hundreds of amendments that have been filed, and we will work very 
hard to get through all of them. But then all of them are not intended 
ever to be offered. They are merely offered as placeholders or for the 
political statement one of our colleagues may want to make as it 
relates to a constituent or to his or her particular views on energy.
  So we hope--and I think the Senator from New Mexico, who is now in 
the

[[Page 19579]]

Chamber hopes--we can work our way through those amendments over the 
course of the next week as we move toward completion of this bill 
before the August recess.
  This bill has already been on the floor for hours over the course of 
the last several months, and we have had a variety of amendments 
already. So for anyone who will stand and wring their hands and say it 
cannot be completed by next week, they are simply saying: I don't want 
to complete it by next week--for whatever political purpose that might 
serve the individual.
  Our leader, Majority Leader Frist, says we will start early and work 
late; and we are prepared to do just that, starting on Monday with 
votes on this legislation and working through the remainder of the 
week.
  At this time I will yield the floor to the chairman of the Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee and, once again, recognize him for the 
phenomenally hard work he has put into building a balanced national 
energy policy, reflected in S. 14.
  I hope by next Friday evening we will have finalized this bill, gone 
to final passage, and that this will be the year when we put on the 
desk of the President of the United States a futuristic program for the 
assurance of the development of energy for generations of Americans to 
come--that product which will fuel a vibrant economy for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I understand we will have a number of 
amendments this morning. Yesterday we had two CAFE amendments. I 
understand there is a third--at least a third--that will be presented 
this morning. We are hoping that will be the extent of the CAFE 
amendments and that we will eventually vote on those and the Senate 
will work its will, as it has already in the past on CAFE standards. I 
understand there is a good chance there will be a number of amendments 
offered this morning.
  There is no desire on my part to ask for votes today. Every effort 
will be made to work out with the minority a method of stacking them 
for Monday which would be far more accommodating to Senators.
  While we wait to untangle some matters, I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for up to 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________