[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15747]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 ENERGY

  Mr. REID. We have, as Democrats, made it clear that we will consider 
responsible solutions or a solution to energy policy that would help 
alleviate the price of gas. We would hope we can do something that 
would deal with energy supply, do something to reduce demand and 
ultimately lower prices for American families.
  Earlier this week, we offered a comprehensive proposal to address the 
energy crisis. As a first step, though, we have offered a proposal to 
stem excessive speculation of Wall Street traders who buy and sell oil 
futures with the click of a mouse. They have only been able to do that 
for 8 years, but now they are doing it in huge numbers. What they do is 
they bid the price higher and higher and leave the American people to 
pay the money they are putting into their pockets.
  I am somewhat disconcerted. We have had on this Senate floor 47 of 49 
Republican Senators come to the floor and talk about speculation being 
a real problem with America, and gas prices. As part of their package 
of doing something about the energy crisis, they had in that 
speculation. So we have a measure on the floor now, and they don't want 
it. They don't want to do that. It is very hard to comprehend that.
  We know speculation is not the problem, but we do know it is a 
problem. We know there are experts who have said that speculation has 
raised the price of oil from 20 to 50 percent. So it seems that it is 
something we should address and address very strongly, and that is what 
our legislation does.
  Now, I said this is not the entire solution. Of course, not. It is a 
problem but not the only problem. We Democrats believe there should be 
more domestic production, and we have said that day after day after 
day. We are willing, as Senator Bingaman has so directed in public 
forums and privately--we have legislation we believe will increase 
significantly domestic production.
  Right now, oil companies hold leases to 68 million acres of land on 
which they could be drilling but are doing nothing. It was less than 2 
years ago that we worked with our Republican colleagues to increase the 
ability of oil companies to move into the Gulf of Mexico, which they 
said was the best place they wanted to go. We were generous; 8.3 
million acres are now available off the coast that were not before, but 
in the 2 years the oil companies have done nothing.
  Again, you do not have to take just what I say. Time magazine 
yesterday said if you go through all the steps for offshore drilling, 
it will take 13 to 15 years. Once you decide you are going to go out 
and take a look at it, it would take 13 to 15 years before a drop of 
oil would come out under the best of circumstances.
  So the American people obviously cannot wait 13 years for solutions 
to high energy prices. We have heard day after day, now week after 
week, the Republicans saying the panacea, the silver bullet, is to 
allow Governors to decide where drilling should take place off the 
Outer Continental Shelf. So we have said: Fine, if you want to vote on 
that, let's have a vote on that. We would have Senator Bingaman's 
proposal as a so-called side by side. We would vote on both of them. I 
do not understand why now we hear from the Republican whip that the 
Republicans want to offer 28 amendments. I have heard the statements. I 
have heard the statements: On other bills, we have offered more than 
one amendment. We have spent days debating this.
  We are where we are. We are here. We are going to be out of session, 
hopefully, by a week from Friday. So we do not have 3 weeks to do on 
this Energy bill, and we cannot do everything that needs to be done 
with energy. But it would seem to me if we did something about 
speculation and solve the domestic production problem, as the 
Republicans have said they want to do--let's vote on their issue and 
let's vote on ours--it seems to me that is a pretty fair way to go. But 
Republicans will not take yes for an answer.
  The oil companies run full-page ads saying: Please let us drill off 
the Outer Continental Shelf more than what we do now. Please let us do 
that. They pay for these full-page ads. For the Republicans, that is 
part of their playbook. They go along with what the oil companies want. 
We are saying: Go ahead. We will have a vote on that. You said for 
weeks now that is what needs to be done. In fact, they had a term that 
said: Talk less, drill more. So let's have a vote on their proposal.
  But as of a short time ago, we had no one agreeing to do that. If 
they choose to reject a vote on their drilling amendment, it will be 
left to the American people to clearly decide--and I think it would be 
pretty easy--as to who is serious about addressing the energy problems 
we have.

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