[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16219-16220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   AMERICANS ARE MORE THAN QUALIFIED TO BREAK THEIR ADDICTION TO OIL

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I read in the Charlotte Observer about a

[[Page 16220]]

gentleman who decided to retrofit his 1981 diesel Mercedes with 
vegetable oil and got a knock on his door by the tax man. His crime was 
choosing to take a stand against the rising cost of gasoline, OPEC, and 
other international energy cartels by converting his car into clean-
running alternative energy. His punishment was a $1,000 fine by the 
North Carolina State Government and $1,000 notice from the Feds. So 
much for innovation and alternative fuel research.
  The predicament was chronicled in the Charlotte Observer on June 15, 
and what we're finding out is he's not alone. Many innovators around 
the country are creating unique ways to exercise energy independence. 
In so doing, they're demonstrating to the Federal Government that the 
American people are more than qualified to break their addiction to 
foreign oil. Good old American ingenuity always comes through.
  As we take up consideration on the Energy Approps Act for 2008, it's 
instructive to consider what they know. If you want to get more 
innovation, incentivize it. If you want less of it, tax it.

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