[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6129]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               GAS PRICES

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it is breathtaking what President Bush 
and congressional Republicans will say or do when it comes to 
skyrocketing gas prices. In discussing tax breaks for oil companies, 
the President said yesterday, and I quote, ``Record oil prices and 
large cash flows also mean that Congress has got to understand that 
these energy companies don't need unnecessary tax breaks.''
  Coming from the single greatest champion of tax breaks for oil 
companies that the Oval Office has ever known, that is rich. The 
President has spent the last 5 years fighting for these tax breaks that 
he now disavows. Last year's energy bill, which he signed, had $8 
billion of corporate welfare for oil companies. For him to suggest now 
that he opposes these tax breaks is, in my opinion, dishonest, cynical, 
and the height of hypocrisy.
  When it comes to solving the energy crisis, President Bush and his 
Republican Congress have no credibility. Had they spent the last 5 
years working to reduce demand by raising fuel standards, rolling back 
the billions of dollars in tax breaks and royalty relief to the big oil 
companies; and if he were about promoting alternative fuels, as 
Democrats have proposed, we might now today be on the road to energy 
independence. Instead we are bracing ourselves for $4 gas prices.
  The American people expect leadership from their President and 
Congress, Madam Speaker. They are not getting it from either.

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