[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   GAS PRICES AND ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, as gas prices hit another record high, I 
call on this Congress to pass visionary legislation for America's 
energy independence.
  This summer, middle-class families are being squeezed like never 
before by the high price of gasoline and farmers are watching their 
profits erode. With the big oil companies pocketing record profits, the 
only action the Republican Congress has taken is more giveaways to Big 
Oil. We need a new direction in this country that will once and for all 
put us on the path to energy independence and free us from our reliance 
on foreign oil sources.
  Rural America feels this crisis every day; and as cochairman of the 
Rural Working Group, I have worked with my colleagues to draft 
legislation to secure America's energy independence through the bounty 
of American agriculture. The answer to the energy crisis is growing on 
our farms, and H.R. 5372 will upgrade our infrastructure to tap these 
homegrown resources. Specifically, the Biofuel Act will facilitate the 
production of vehicles that can run on E-85, ethanol-based fuel and 
soybean diesel and provide tax credits to encourage gas station owners 
to update their equipment to handle these new environmentally friendly 
fuels.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for a new direction for America; and Congress 
must take action now to secure America's energy future.

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