[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16169]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ENERGY BILL ANNIVERSARY BRINGS PAIN AT THE PUMP

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is the first anniversary of 
the House passage of the Bush energy bill.
  Our Republican colleagues probably want to take a victory lap, but 
they just cannot afford the gas. Gas prices, you see, in that 1 year 
are 71 cents higher today than they were 12 months ago.
  The Republican energy bill fails American consumers by design.
  They moved it a year ago, even though they knew it would grow our 
dependence on foreign oil because it offered $85 billion in consumer 
subsidies to Big Oil and the other Republican corporate campaign 
donors.
  It has paid off. Eighty-four percent of Big Oil's more than $10 
million in political contributions for this November's elections have 
gone to Republicans, 84 percent. Is it any wonder who the Republican 
energy bill really serves?
  Too many of my Republican colleagues are addicted to oil company 
campaign contributions.
  We need to reject the failed policies of the past. We need to build a 
brighter future of greater energy independence by using energy smarter, 
investing in new, job-creating energy technologies and, for instance, 
making my State of Ohio the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.

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