[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7390-7391]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           SMART ENERGY POLICIES, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6, which the House passed earlier 
today, is called the Energy Policy Act of 2005. But the only real 
policies to be found in this immoral legislation are tax breaks for 
polluters, swollen gasoline prices, and continued reliance on fossil 
fuels of the past. This legislation fails to even mention climate 
change or global warming which scientists of all stripes acknowledge is 
caused at least in part by high levels of carbon dioxide emissions from 
automobiles.
  It fails to correct the matter of MTBE, a gasoline additive that has 
leaked into the Earth and tarnished our drinking water, except, 
however, to waive liabilities for MTBE providers.
  Most significant of all, Mr. Speaker, this legislation fails to truly 
address

[[Page 7391]]

America's reliance on Middle East oil. Of the 21 million barrels 
consumed by the United States each day, 14 million barrels are 
imported, making Middle East oil the United States' main source of 
energy. Much of this oil is imported from countries that do not share 
America's commitment to democracy and our commitment to human rights, 
countries like Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Venezuela.
  It is obvious in this energy bill that those who claim that drilling 
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska will cure our Nation's 
energy policy do not know much about how oil is produced. Drilling in 
ANWR will do little to reduce our current dependence on foreign oil 
because it will take a full decade to process what little oil may be 
there in the first place. That does not sound like a comprehensive 
energy strategy to me.
  By continuing to purchase Middle East oil by the boatload, we are 
failing to take advantage of life-changing renewable energy 
technologies while continuing to promote our national insecurity by 
providing billions of dollars each year to repressive regimes.
  The oil dollars that go to oppressive Middle East regimes do not, of 
course, help the poor people in these countries. Instead, they line the 
already thick pockets of the fat-cat ruling elite. In this way, U.S. 
policies actually discourage democracy in the Middle East because we 
continue to help maintain the economic gap between the rich and the 
poor.
  In truth, this failure to reduce our dependence on Middle East oil 
along with President Bush's supremely misguided invasion of Iraq have 
combined to make Americans less secure, not more secure.
  The Bush administration has falsely labeled the war in Iraq, much 
like the latest energy bill, as the essence of protecting our national 
security, when in fact both contribute to our lack of security.
  Already more than 1,500 American soldiers and tens of thousands of 
Iraqi civilians have been killed in this war, not to mention the more 
than 12,000 troops who have been gravely wounded. Hardly the stuff of a 
national security.
  Let us never forget that the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice 
against a country that never posed a threat to the United States and 
never possessed relationships with international terrorist groups like 
al Qaeda.
  President Bush claims that things are going well in Iraq, 
demonstrated by the fact that 150,000 Iraqi soldiers ``have been 
adequately trained.'' But if 150,000 Iraqi soldiers have been trained, 
then why do 150,000 American soldiers remain in the country? Why do our 
troops continue to die for a war that was a mistake from the very 
beginning?
  If President Bush continues to support a misguided war that is 
draining our national resources, and if the Republicans will not work 
to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, how can they possibly claim to 
be securing America against the threat of terrorism? Clearly, much more 
needs to be done to make America secure.
  Mr. Speaker, I will soon reintroduce the SMART Security resolution, 
legislation to secure America for the future by preventing the threat 
of terrorism; reducing nuclear stock piles; eliminating the possible 
use of nuclear weapons through diplomatic means; and establishing a new 
Apollo Project to secure America's energy independence.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in this 
effort to truly secure America for the future.

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