[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13416]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, LOWER PRICES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. It's good to be here this morning and to be back to 
work on a good Tuesday morning, Madam Speaker, to let the American 
people know that we are on the job and that we're here to, hopefully, 
this week work on the price at the pump. We are here to work on 
America's independence. As we're coming up on Independence Day, on the 
Fourth of July, we're working on America's independence from foreign 
oil.
  About 2 weeks ago, I started getting calls from constituents about 
signing a petition that was on americansolutions.com, and then there 
were other petitions I was called about--Internet petitions--where 
Americans were telling Congress this is what we want you to do: Drill 
here. Drill now. Lower prices.
  I was at a gas station in my district, and I went in, and there was a 
petition there. It said, ``We want to lower gas prices.'' I guess the 
attendant there was doing that to keep people busy so they wouldn't be 
hollering at him. So I came up with an idea.
  The American people are telling us how they feel. Let's have an 
opportunity. Let's have our own petition within this House, Madam 
Speaker, to tell the American people how we feel. So I've come up with 
a petition. There is no legislation. There is no discharge petition. 
It's just something that each Member of this body can state to their 
constituents.
  Basically, it says American energy solutions for lower gas prices. 
Bring onshore oil on line. Bring deepwater oil on line. Bring new 
refineries on line. The pledge has 435 lines, one for every Member. 
What it says is ``I will vote to increase U.S. oil production to lower 
gas prices for Americans.'' It's very simple. ``I will vote to increase 
U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans.'' That's very 
simple.
  Now, I've heard every excuse in the world from people on this floor, 
Madam Speaker, about why they didn't want to sign it. Well, if people 
out there are wanting to know if their Member has signed, they could go 
to house.gov/westmoreland and see if their Member is on there. They can 
see if they've signed, and they can see if it says that they will vote 
to increase U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans.
  This is very important. We need to let you know, the American people 
know, how we feel about the situation that you're in. You're in a 
situation where you go to the gas pump, and you may have to spend a 
larger portion of your paycheck than you normally would, but that's 
only small. We've got winter coming. With natural gas prices as high as 
they are, you're going to be cold in your home and will not be able to 
get in your car and drive anywhere to get warm.
  So it's not just about the crude oil. It's about the natural gas. We 
have so much off of our coast, so much natural gas, so much oil in the 
Outer Continental Shelf. Untie our hands, Madam Speaker. Let our oil 
go. We want to be self-dependent. We don't want to rely on foreign 
countries.
  I hope that the American people will help us persuade other Members 
of this body that we need to vote to drill here, to drill now and to 
lower prices.

                          ____________________