[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25385-25386]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 OIL COMPANY WINDFALL PROFIT TAX OFFSET

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, recently Senator Collins and I introduced an 
amendment to the proposed budget reconciliation bill to fund a $2.9 
billion increase in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program by 
placing a temporary 1-year windfall profit tax on big oil companies. I 
filed this amendment to the budget reconciliation bill to begin the 
dialog, and I intend to call for a vote on my amendment when the Senate 
debates the tax reconciliation bill in the next few days.
  Last week, oil companies reported record profits for the third 
quarter on surging oil prices. Chevron posted profits of $3.6 billion. 
BP's profits rose to $6.5 billion. Royal Dutch/Shell profits grew to $9 
billion. And ExxonMobil profits gushed up 75 percent to nearly $10 
billion. According to BusinessWeek, that equals $150 million in profit 
for every working day in the past 3 months.
  This year has been an exceptionally lucrative one for the oil 
industry and an exceptionally impoverishing one for American families 
and seniors. Profits going to big oil are money coming out of wallets 
of working families and seniors and wealth draining out of our 
communities.
  Fully funding LIHEAP is a vital imperative. I believe the big oil 
companies should help shoulder the cost. Rising energy prices could 
financially wipe out working-class families and seniors this winter. 
Americans are experiencing extraordinarily high runups in energy prices 
that jeopardize the ability of many families to keep their homes warm 
during this coming winter season. Energy costs to the average family 
using heating oil are estimated to hit $1,500 this winter, an increase 
of almost $325 over last winter's heating season. For families using 
natural gas, prices could hit $1,000, an increase of $300.
  For a family using propane, prices are projected to hit $1,300, an 
increase of $230. For families living in poverty, energy bills are now 
over 20 percent of their income, compared to 5 percent for other 
households. People who are living in poverty, many of whom are working, 
are paying 20 percent of their income for heating bills. That is 
compared to 5 percent for the rest of America's families.
  Let me tell you what this amendment means. If we are successful, it 
would add $2.9 billion to the LIHEAP program to bring total funding to 
$5.1 billion this winter. With $5.1 billion, the National Energy 
Assistance Directors Association estimates that LIHEAP could serve 12 
million families this year. This is double the number of families 
served last year but still only one-third of those eligible. Even with 
this increased funding, we would not reach all the families who 
qualify, but we would reach those families who are most in need, 
particularly in this very difficult winter heating season.
  States could also increase the level of benefits to help these rising 
costs, in addition to enrolling more personnel in the program.
  This amendment means that seniors will not have to choose between 
buying lifesaving medication and paying their natural gas bills. 
Working families will not have to decide between putting food on the 
table or putting heating oil in their tanks. And what is the cost of 
this amendment to big oil? It is about 10 percent of their profits from 
one quarter of 1 year, or in the case of ExxonMobil my amendment would 
represent just one-third of their profits for

[[Page 25386]]

one quarter. This is a small price to pay to keep American families 
safe and warm this winter.
  Two weeks ago, I wrote an open letter to the oil industry asking that 
they act as good corporate citizens and take this step voluntarily. I 
was pleased to hear that Senator Grassley, the distinguished chairman 
of the Finance Committee, reiterated my plea recently, and I hope that 
we will be able to work together on this effort. I also hope that 
Senator Gregg, the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee, will 
join Senator Collins and me in our efforts to increase LIHEAP funding 
through this temporary windfall profits tax. I also hope the 
administration will join our bipartisan effort to help American 
families. Unfortunately, to date, the administration only appears able 
to say no to American families and seniors and yes to the oil industry.
  Last month, Secretary Bodman said no, the administration would not 
seek additional funding for LIHEAP this winter. The supplemental 
appropriations request the administration sent to Congress last week 
did not include funding.
  Recently, Secretary Bodman, answering questions on whether the 
administration would support oil companies voluntarily donating profits 
to LIHEAP, said, ``No, sir. I wouldn't support it. It is similar to a 
tax.''
  In 1980, Congress enacted the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. 
This legislation established LIHEAP. Twenty-five years later, with 
energy prices overwhelming workers' salaries and seniors' Social 
Security checks, it is time for Congress again to take action and tax 
windfall profits to aid in energy assistance.
  I also want to mention it is my intention that when we consider the 
tax reconciliation bill this month, I will offer an amendment to 
provide a tax credit to working American families to help them pay for 
their energy bills this winter. Our Nation's priorities must be to help 
these families, and I hope working together with my colleagues we can 
provide that help and assistance.
  Mr. President, I inquire how much time is remaining in morning 
business on the Democratic side?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Two minutes.
  Mr. REED. I yield the remainder of the time to the Senator from 
Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, is that the extent of the time?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct.
  Mr. REED. In morning business.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if I may clarify what the situation is, 2 
minutes in morning business is left, and that is being allocated to the 
Senator from Massachusetts, fine, no problem there. But as I 
understand, the Senator from Massachusetts also wishes to address the 
Levin amendment; am I correct?
  Mr. KENNEDY. That is correct.
  Mr. WARNER. At which time is the expiration of the 2 minutes. Then 
the time is charged to the Levin amendment; is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. At the conclusion of morning business, the 
Senate will proceed to consideration of S. 1042, and the Senator then 
may seek recognition.
  Mr. WARNER. I hate to interrupt the Senator from Massachusetts, but 
if you have to do it, you have to do it.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I intend to speak probably 7 minutes. I 
will use the 2 minutes now and request time on the Levin amendment.


                           AMENDMENT NO. 2430

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, a year and a half ago, Americans were 
stunned by the revolting images of men and women wearing the uniform of 
our Nation torturing and abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
  At the time, we had hoped those photos pictured an isolated instance, 
but we have learned since that our own leaders at the highest levels of 
our Government, in the White House, in the Pentagon, and in the Central 
Intelligence Agency, have allowed a wide pattern of abuse to occur. Abu 
Ghraib, it seems, was only the tip of the iceberg.
  American officials abused prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and 
Guantanamo, and now we learn the CIA maintains secret prisoners in 
Eastern Europe where Vice President Cheney arrogantly and 
unapologetically hopes to permit torture as a permanent part of 
American policy.
  These actions deeply offend American honor and ideals. They invite 
retribution on our own troops by those who treat them as we treat their 
prisoners, and they harm America's image around the world and make the 
war on terror that much harder to win.
  These abuses should not be swept under the rug and forgotten. The 
American people deserve to know what their government is doing. Those 
who have violated our norms and values under the color of the American 
flag should be held accountable.
  That is why I strongly support the Levin amendment to create a 
commission with responsibility for learning the truth. Its findings not 
only would bring much needed accountability of those responsible for 
these abuses but also would guide our handling of the detention and 
interrogation of detainees in the future.
  From what we have learned to date, it is clear that our political 
leaders made deliberate decisions to throw out the well-established 
legal framework that has long made America the gold standard for human 
rights throughout the world. The Administration left our soldiers, case 
officers, and intelligence agents in a fog of ambiguity. They were told 
to ``take the gloves off'' without knowing what the limits were. Top 
officials in the Administration endorsed and defended practices that 
we've condemned in other countries. And the consequences were 
foreseeable.
  In rewriting our human rights laws, the Administration consistently 
overruled the objections of experienced military personnel and those 
who represent American interests abroad. As Secretary of State Colin 
Powell warned the White House, ``it will reverse over a century of U.S. 
policy and practice in supporting the Geneva Conventions and undermine 
the protections of the law of war for our troops.'' Senior Defense 
officials were warned that changing the rules would lead to so-called 
``force drift,'' and without clearer guidance, the level of force 
applied to an uncooperative detainee might well result in torture.
  But these wise words fell on deaf ears. Officials at the highest 
levels of the administration somehow viewed the rule as inconvenient 
and quaint. As Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary 
Powell, said:

       I don't think in our history we've ever had a presidential 
     involvement, a secretarial involvement, a vice-presidential 
     involvement, an Attorney General involvement in telling our 
     troops essentially carte blanche is the way you should feel.

  ```The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 2 minutes.

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