[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13886]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           USE IT OR LOSE IT

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, Americans continue to suffer 
the pain at the pump due to 7 years of missed opportunities and 
outdated policies. President Bush's energy plan was literally written 
by the oil companies, giving more public resources and billions in 
subsidies to the same companies that are raking in record billions in 
profits while Americans are reeling. That was the plan then; that's the 
plan now.
  Every day, we hear our friends on the other side of the aisle 
demanding that we need to drill more holes. What we don't hear is 
anyone demanding that they drill on the 68 million acres they have. 
Legislation on the floor today will force those companies to produce 
oil and gas diligently on the 68 million acres of the public land, your 
land, that they already have. Experts say there are 4.8 million barrels 
of oil which would nearly double total U.S. production.
  Madam Speaker, drilling has been the Republican slogan for years, and 
it will be so today. Today is finally their chance to put that slogan 
to the test, to tell Big Oil to drill now and to use it, or lose it.

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