[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17367-17374]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  REPUBLICAN FRESHMAN QUARTERLY REPORT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Madam Speaker, tonight we come with a 
quarterly report from the freshmen Republicans. This is something that 
we promised to do when we were first elected, and we continue to do it 
each and every quarter because we want to come back to the American 
people and tell them what their House is doing.
  Tonight, for many of you and many of your houses it might be summer 
school, and last week I just got my daughter and my sons' report cards. 
They did very well, if you were concerned about that, Mr. Heller. But 
what the report will be from this Congress on this night is not good.
  In less than 2 days, this House is scheduled to adjourn; adjourn 
without solving the energy crisis, or even allowing a vote on this 
floor. So tonight as the freshmen Republicans come to you to talk about 
this quarterly report, something has happened in the last 2 weeks.
  You know, in the minority party here, Madam Speaker, one thing that 
these freshmen Republicans will do is they don't sit back.

                              {time}  2115

  Even if the majority party, the Democratic controlled House here, 
will not allow a vote on the floor, we believe the American people are 
hurting; we understand the American people are hurting when it comes to 
the energy crisis with the price of gas over $4 a gallon, the heating 
fuel costs which continues to not only hurt the individuals, but it 
hurts the nonprofits, it hurts the school districts. As we continue to 
move forward, some districts in my area are talking about even maybe 
going to 4 days a week, some are talking about charging if the kids 
want to even ride the bus to school. So we talked about, how can we go 
about helping America? How can we help solve this problem?
  So collectively as freshmen and as Republicans, we got together along 
with our leader, Mr. John Boehner from Ohio, and we decided, let's go 
on the all-American energy tour and let's actually sit down and talk to 
some experts.
  So not last weekend, but the weekend before, we went together to 
Golden, Colorado. In Golden, Colorado they have the National Renewable 
Energy Laboratory from the Department of Energy. Here, they study from 
wind, from solar, to hybrids, to hydrogen cars. We drove them. We 
looked at them. We went through with the biomass, different ways about 
where the future will go in energy and how we can actually become 
independent and have an American energy program that creates American 
jobs. Because, as many of you know, in America today we use 20 million 
barrels of oil a day but we only produce 7. So to solve this problem, 
we really need all of the above. We need more wind, we need more solar, 
we need to actually be able to conserve more, but we also have to be 
able to explore more.
  So just as we went out and looked at the renewable energy and we 
looked to where you build the windmills; you build them where the wind 
blows. Where do you put out the solar panels? You put them out where 
the sun shines. Where do you explore for oil? Where it is, underground.
  From there we traveled up to Alaska. We landed in Fairbanks and we 
went up to ANWR. We went out and looked exactly where we are already 
drilling today. We went out to the first place where the Alaskan 
pipeline starts. The Alaskan pipeline, when it starts right there, it 
sends 700,000 barrels of oil a day. It takes 9 days to get from the 
beginning to the end. But in 1989, that used to produce 2.2 million 
barrels a day. Every year that we do nothing, it loses 15 percent. That 
is 15 percent less barrels of oil coming down. America is still using 
20 million barrels, but only producing 7.
  And as we looked around, we looked for environmentally friendly ways 
to do it. We found that in the past you would take 64 acres, today you 
would only take maybe 16, maybe 6. You could actually drill down and 
drill out 8 miles because of technology advancements, and that we could 
do it in an environmentally sound way. And as we went to ANWR, just a 
few miles over, we found that there is another 10 billion barrels.
  We found out that if ANWR was allowed to be drilled, where this body 
will not even let it come up for a vote,

[[Page 17368]]

it would add 1 million barrels a day. And 1 million barrels a day added 
inside that pipeline, what would it mean to you back home? What would 
it mean to the average citizen? It would mean 50 cents less in the 
gasoline per gallon that you buy.
  Our Federal Reserve Chairman was before our committee just 2 weeks 
ago, and he said 1 percent added in production would decrease the cost 
by 10 percent. That is just a 1 percent addition. One million barrels 
of oil would lower the barrel $20 a barrel from what you see out on the 
market.
  We have a plan. We have an idea. But tonight, and unfortunately when 
we come to you, the power of the idea will not win on this floor. Not 
because the desire is not there, but because the majority party will 
not allow it.
  Today we had a very big vote, like many of our votes here. But do you 
know what the vote was today? By one simple vote. If you wonder if that 
one votes ever makes a difference, that one vote made a difference 
today, because on this floor by one vote the Democrat-controlled 
Congress voted to adjourn, voted to adjourn while the gas prices were 
over $4 a gallon; saying to the American people that, as I listened to 
the Speaker the other day, she is trying to save the planet. She is 
looking at the longevity of the world. I am looking back for the 
constituents back home that can't afford to continue to live the way 
this economy is going.
  Tonight, we are going to listen to a lot of the different freshmen 
that actually went on the tour, been a part of it, seeing what is going 
on in America today. And first we are going to start off with my good 
friend from the State of Michigan, District 7, back in Battle Creek, 
Tim Walberg.
  Mr. WALBERG. I thank the gentleman from California, and I thank him 
for his good words and bringing us really to perspective what is going 
on here.
  I wish I could have joined you on the trip to ANWR as well as to 
Golden, Colorado and seen what you saw up close and personal. But, 
frankly, I felt it was more important at that time to look for the 
pictures you would bring back and hear the testimony that you and other 
good colleagues and friends of mine would bring back, but for me 
personally to stay back in Michigan, a State that at present is a one-
State recession, that has the highest unemployment rate in the Nation, 
sadly, that was at one time the greatest manufacturing State, and, more 
importantly, was the motor capital not only of the United States but of 
the world, a place called Detroit, Motown, Motor City, all of the 
above, that established the pattern for what transportation was all 
about and, I contend, still is; and yet is frustrated by a government 
system, both in the State and here, with the leadership in Congress, 
Madam Speaker, that will not do what is necessary to allow us to 
continue to not only keep our faith to our people, not only keep our 
position as the greatest Nation on this earth in every area, including 
transportation, but rather at this point in time is willing to say that 
the process of saving this planet as our Speaker intends to do involves 
a Democrat energy plan which was stated very clearly.
  And I bring this with some comedy as we look at the picture, and yet 
it is a stark, painful reality that this plan will not work. And that 
plan is what? Drive small cars and wait for the wind. If we do that, as 
the title of an old movie said, it will be Gone With the Wind.
  We need to do something, Madam Speaker, now for the people of this 
great country, for my great State of Michigan, and all of those 
concerned to produce energy that deals with the reality of what this 
country needs.
  I am tired of living in a State right now where our Governor says 
with great pride that she rides her bicycle to work to the State 
capitol from her Governor's residence every day with her escort of 
security people following her on their bicycles as well. The motor 
capital of the world with a Governor riding a bicycle. Now if that was 
for conservation purposes, fine, I support that. For purposes of 
austerity, I support that. But promoting this because of necessity? I 
can't accept that.
  This morning I sat on the floor of the House and I looked up. And I 
looked up to the highest point of this Chamber directly above the 
Speaker's rostrum, Madam Speaker, and I see engraved there in a stone-
carved monument to us this statement. It is a statement by Daniel 
Webster, and I read from the paper because I can see it better in front 
of me right now. But Daniel Webster said this many, many years ago: Let 
us develop the resources of our land.
  How up-to-date is that? Let us develop the resources of our land, 
call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great 
interests, and see whether we also in our day, in our generation, 
fellow colleagues, freshmen, Republicans, standing here for the defense 
of our great country, Daniel Webster said, and see whether we also in 
our day and our generation may not perform something worthy to be 
remembered.
  I submit to you that that is what we are doing, standing here 
tonight.
  Under an adjournment resolution that will take place sometime in the 
next 24, 48 hours, sending us home, most likely as it appears without 
doing anything to give an opportunity for my Governor to get in her 
flex fuel hybrid Tahoe again, if she determines so, to go to her 
residence.
  Well, we can jest about that. I could talk about a lot of statistics. 
But tonight, while you were in ANWR, I had the privilege of, on five 
occasions in my district, South Central Michigan, going to various gas 
stations and pumping gas into constituents' vehicles as they would 
allow me. I would simply say, ``Hi, I'm Congressman Tim Walberg. If you 
will share with me your ideas and concerns on energy and the price at 
the pump, I would be glad to pump your gas while you tell me your 
stories.'' I came away with plenty of stories. I came away with plenty 
of pictures.
  Just Monday afternoon in Battle Creek, Michigan, a mother, single 
parent, one child, came to the pump with a small mini van. She left it 
running. And when I questioned her about that, she says, ``I'm afraid 
it won't start if I turn it off.'' She said, ``I'd be glad to talk to 
you.'' And I said, ``How much do you want me to fill it?'' And she 
said, ``$11.'' That's just a little over 2 gallons.
  She began to tell me her story of how she is working two jobs, and 
the gas that she was putting into her vehicle that day would get her 
through 2 days of work and her transportation to each of those jobs and 
back. Those are stories that talk of reality.
  Another story that I wrote down came from a lady who said, ``Because 
I'm a truck driver and the high price of fuel has damaged the economy 
so badly, my employer started limiting the miles given to older, higher 
paid drivers such as myself. My income last year dropped a full 30 
percent. Then I was injured on the job and denied workers' comp. I 
finally began receiving my disability payments after 4 months. During 
those 4 months, however, I was scraping up every cent available to pay 
for LP gas to heat my trailer home. Because I spent every available 
cent on heating fuel, food, and electricity, I could not pay the taxes 
on my paid-for home. I am now in default, and my home will be forfeited 
in October for back taxes.''
  This is reality that we are talking about here. It is not simply 
price at the pump; it is lifestyle, it is living conditions. It is 
keeping a home that is paid for.
  ``I can't afford a cheaper vehicle,'' she said. ``I can't afford to 
repair the one vehicle here that would get a few more miles per gallon 
than the old F-150. I'm a careful shopper, but the rising price of 
groceries is also directly related to the energy crisis.''
  Let me read one last story that was told to me. This was by a wife 
from Jackson, Michigan whose husband was in sales, which ultimately 
diminished and ultimately was lost because of the fuel prices.
  She makes a number of points, but in the last point she says, ``At 
approximately $175 per week in gas costs, we can no longer afford to 
send our children to Catholic school. That was a

[[Page 17369]]

choice, yes, but a choice made specifically for our children's 
interests. They cannot go to camp, they cannot have the braces which 
they need. The money I would have put aside for college is now being 
spent on gas. We cannot tithe to our church, nor can we donate to the 
myriad of other charities we routinely helped. Every decision is 
weighed based upon''--and get this again. ``Every decision is weighed 
based upon the extreme cost of leaving the driveway.''
  Now those are life stories. Those are stories that make an impact 
upon me as a congressman representing South Central Michigan, the 
Seventh District of Michigan.
  These are stories that go way beyond the political partisan haggling 
that goes on here, that goes beyond even making jokes about a plan that 
will not work, cannot work, and isn't going to be allowed to work to 
drive small cars and wait for the wind.
  Daniel Webster said this, again: ``Let us develop the resources of 
our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all 
its great interests, and see whether we also in our day and generation 
may not perform something worthy to be remembered.''

                              {time}  2130

  I submit to you, my colleagues tonight and, Madam Speaker, that that 
is what we are attempting to do here and now; not to produce something 
that we will be remembered about, but something worthy to be 
remembered, that we fought for, this great country, the resources that 
allowed us to be blessed, that allowed us to expand our capabilities 
and allowed us to bless other nations all over this globe because we 
used our resources, we built up our land and powers, and we have done 
something worthy to be remembered.
  I thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to sharing in the 
banter back and forth about reality tonight. But I think that would be 
beyond the facts and figures that I could put forth, probably the most 
important thing I can start with tonight, and I yield back my time.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Well, I thank the gentleman from Michigan 
as he tells of the personal stories within his district of the 
suffering, of the pain.
  But as I said earlier, what did this Democrat-controlled Congress do? 
Today it voted to adjourn, adjourn for an entire month, as many across 
America dreamt about maybe going on a summer vacation, but told their 
kids, no Disneyland this year; we can't afford even to drive there.
  But, as the Republicans, we don't sit back and just complain. We 
believe that we can lead. When you look at Congress, you look at the 
opinion polls, it is down at 9 percent. Many across America are now 
beginning to call this Democrat-controlled Congress the ``No Drill 
Congress.''
  And we won't even bring up appropriation bills. One of the major jobs 
of this Congress is to fund government. 13 appropriation bills they are 
supposed to bring up each and every year, but the majority won't even 
bring them up because they are afraid of an amendment coming on the 
bills. The amendment would say, let's create an energy plan. And what 
would that energy plan be? It would be all of the above. It would 
expand solar, it would expand wind, it would explore, it would go 
beyond for the new technologies at the same time, and it would lower 
the price of gas and create an American energy independent program that 
creates American jobs.
  We have other members from the Freshman Class here with us tonight. 
Our next speaker, you may have heard him just a little bit ago talking 
about the National Guard in Nevada, and he continues that leadership 
now as he begins to talk to us about the energy. Representing Reno, 
Sparks, Carson City, the majority of Nevada, coming from the Second 
District, I yield to my good friend, Representative Dean Heller.
  Mr. HELLER of Nevada. Thank you very much. I appreciate the comments, 
and I appreciate you putting this together. I am proud to be part of 
the quarterly report that we have going on here today, spend some time 
with the folks back home and let them know what is going on here in 
Washington, D.C. and what we are trying to do to help them. And I want 
to thank you again for putting us together.
  And you know what is great is to be able to listen to the gentleman 
from Michigan talk about the experiences that he has within his 
district. And I think we can do that with Louisiana, with Ohio, 
Tennessee, California, but I want to give a couple of examples of what 
I am seeing in Nevada.
  I have got a pretty large district. I joke with my colleagues 
sometimes about the distance that I have to drive, 15 hours to get from 
one end of my district to the other. I go home most weekends and 
probably drive 500 miles. In fact, this weekend I am driving out to 
Elko, which is going to be another 500-mile drive. But that is okay. 
That is okay.
  You know, the difficult part about this is that I try to meet my 
constituents in my district. Every year I try to travel as far as I 
can, and the exorbitant cost now that it is, just to visit with my 
constituents, is becoming incredible. I drove about 50,000 miles this 
year. And had I done that 2 years ago, in trying to visit with my 
constituents it would have cost me actually $90,000 less, $90,000 extra 
dollars to drive because of the non-actions of this particular 
Congress.
  But I want to put a face, just like the gentleman from Michigan did, 
on what is going on here in the State of Nevada. As I drive across the 
State, I can give examples.
  I have a daughter, and many of you have children that are in sports. 
And it is a shame that playing in some of these competitive teams, once 
you get to a competitive level you find yourself traveling great 
distances. She happens to be playing out of Reno, and she has to go 
down to Las Vegas or maybe to Sacramento, maybe up to Oregon, across 
the State to Elko or somewhere of that nature. So it is getting pretty 
expensive for parents, and I am having parents starting to complain 
that they can't go to the away games. It is difficult for them to get 
to the away games because of the cost of travel because of the high 
fuel costs.
  Another example of that, I was in a small town called Lovelock, and 
they have a restaurant over there called Sturgeons, and I was talking 
to the general manager. And they were talking about the price of eggs. 
The price of an egg, since the beginning of the year has gone from 7 
cents to 13 cents.
  Now, Lovelock is not that far out of the way. From Reno it is 
probably an hour and a half or so. So you wouldn't think that travel 
costs would be that expensive. But it is the cost of everything, 
because of the inaction of this particular Congress, that is causing 
these problems. It isn't just the price of fuel. Of course it is the 
price of poultry.
  When we start taking all of this corn and the grains and the 
byproducts and start turning them into ethanol and using what could be 
used for feed for cattle, for poultry, for hogs and everything else, 
everything is going up and getting very expensive very, very quickly.
  I think ethanol is a mistake right now. I think we need to take a 
look at other ways, other ways of providing energy, and that is why we 
went on this trip to ANWR.
  But I want to give one more example, and that is a particular family 
that came to visit me last week. The Anderson family came in, one of my 
constituents, family from Nevada, and they came out here. They have a 
couple of children and they want to show their children Washington, 
D.C. And I was fortunate enough to have them come by my office. And I 
believe he is a dental technician and she is a nurse, and they have a 
young daughter that plays volleyball, very good at volleyball. Their 
son is a very good baseball player. And they are talking about how 
difficult it is for them to provide, and the problems that they are 
facing now with these high fuel prices.
  They are very good athletes, and so they want to make all of their 
events, and it gets more and more difficult.
  To tell you how difficult it is getting, in my home State of Nevada, 
according

[[Page 17370]]

to the USA Today, because of fuel prices for airlines, they are cutting 
10 percent of their flights. Well, we are one of five States they are 
going to cut more than 10 percent of their flights into Nevada.
  Now, for a State like ours that relies heavily on tourism and 
traffic, you can imagine the impact that that is having. But it is not 
just coming into the State, the lack of 10 percent flights. It is the 
lack of 10 percent flights now that are going out. And they talked 
about how difficult it is to get a flight now and the exorbitant cost 
it is.
  I think an airline industry today just announced that the extra bag 
is not going to be $25, it is going to be an additional $25 on top of 
that, for a total of $50 so that they can compensate for these huge 
costs.
  I want to banter back and forth more. I want to talk about our trip 
to ANWR. I want to talk about our experiences in Golden, Colorado. I 
think they were great. I want to give others a chance to introduce 
themselves. And thank you again for the opportunity to be here. And I 
will yield back to you.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Well, I thank the gentleman from Nevada 
for the leadership he continues to show in this work that we are trying 
to do within the energy.
  Tonight, when we went up to ANWR, one thing that I found most 
interesting when we talked about is how you can do it environmentally 
friendly. One thing that they showed when we were up in Alaska, that in 
the 1970s, it took them 20 acres and they would go down 1 mile. 1980s 
it took them 16 acres.
  But you think about technology, and the greatest way for America to 
understand technology, think of that very first cell phone. It came in 
a bag. It was about the size of a brick. Today it is a very little 
phone, and you know within that phone that it has more technology in 
the cell phone today than we had on the Apollo when it landed on the 
moon.
  But you expand with that technology. Today, present, it takes only 6 
acres, so your footprint is much smaller. But what they are able to do 
when they drill down, to go out 8 miles across, what does that mean to 
the American people?
  One, that we are able to explore much further, to do it in an 
environmentally sound way, have a much smaller footprint, and actually 
have fewer wells to drill.
  There is a plan to be able to go forward that allows exploration, 
wind and solar, but the Democratic-controlled Congress will not even 
allow it to come up on to the floor.
  This is becoming, Madam Speaker, a ``No Drill Congress.'' But the 
American people continue to suffer.
  And tonight we wanted to hear from our good friend from Ohio, Jim 
Jordan. I yield to my friend from Ohio.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I thank the gentleman for putting this hour 
together. I thank the folks who are participating and those who were 
able to go on our trip when we went to, we were up in ANWR, up in 
Alaska to see.
  You know, the thing I just feel so strongly about is, Americans 
realize we live in the greatest country ever. But they are frustrated. 
They are frustrated by the fact that this Congress, if you saw the news 
yesterday, this Congress has run the largest deficit in history. $482 
billion is the projected deficit this year.
  They are frustrated that this Congress won't act on increasing the 
supply of energy, won't act on drilling more offshore, drilling more in 
Alaska, won't act on bringing down the price at the pump, bringing down 
the price of energy, won't act on those things that are necessary to 
help every single family across this country.
  A few months ago, in our district, I had the opportunity to be in one 
of our Federal judge's courtroom for the ceremony where new Americans 
take the oath of citizenship. And I don't know if you have ever had a 
chance to participate in those ceremonies, Madam Speaker, but when you 
get an opportunity, it is an emotional experience to watch these, in my 
case, it was 36 new Americans, raise their hand, take the oath and 
become an American citizen. And when they completed that oath, the 
smile on their face, when they now realized that they were a citizen of 
the greatest country in the world, it is special to see. And frankly, 
those Americans, those new Americans, as all Americans, deserve better 
from their Congress.
  The idea that we are going to leave here without taking an up or down 
vote on increasing supply on drilling offshore, on drilling in ANWR, is 
just wrong, and they deserve better.
  One of the things that we learned that the gentleman from California 
has pointed out in some of his comments and remarks, when we were in 
Alaska, I will just be frank with you. If ever there was a place that 
we should be producing oil, it is in ANWR. Alaska is a beautiful State, 
except in ANWR where we were. When you went and looked across that 
area, this was a desolate, barren place that has over 10 billion 
barrels of oil waiting to be brought to production, waiting to be 
helping with our supply needs, waiting to be helping with the price at 
the pump that families are paying, and it is just something that we 
need to go do.
  And as the gentleman points out, technology is our friend in this 
area. The footprint needed now on the surface to go down and get a much 
larger area subsurface is so small, and we can do it in an 
environmentally safe way.
  I thought it was interesting, and my colleagues will recall this as 
well who were on the trip, that we flew over ANWR in propeller planes, 
prop planes, so we were flying pretty low to the ground. When we flew 
over ANWR I didn't see any wildlife. I am sure it was there, but I just 
thought it was sort of ironic and somewhat of a coincidence. We didn't 
see it. As I told the press, we didn't see caribou, we didn't see, you 
know, polar bears. We didn't see Bambi. We didn't see it. What we saw 
was a barren, desolate place which, as I said, has over 10 billion 
barrels of oil that needed to be brought to market.
  But when we were on the ground, as the gentleman from California 
pointed out, in the Prudhoe Bay area, in that production are, where we 
have been taking oil out of the ground, bringing it to market for 30 
years, when we were on the ground there in that area, at the pipeline 
itself, mile marker 0, pump station Number 1, we saw the caribou. They 
were right there. In fact, we saw one caribou trotting across the 
airport runway where we landed the plane as we flew into the Prudhoe 
Bay area.
  So the idea that we can produce this in a way that is going to be 
friendly to wildlife, it is already there. We saw proof of that 
firsthand. This is something we need to do.
  As I said, the American people get it, and the fact that their 
Congress doesn't is frustrating. It is frustrating them. It is 
frustrating for those of us who want to drill more, who want this 
legislation to pass so we can get started on bringing down the price 
right away.
  They get it. And I am confident what is going to happen over the 
August recess, you know, is there is an old line in politics that most 
politicians don't see the light; they feel the heat. And I think when 
some of these Members go back home, they are not just going to feel the 
heat from the August summer weather, they are going to feel the heat 
from families and constituents back home who tell them, we need to 
drill; we need to go get more supply.
  The American people get it. It is time that this Democrat-led 
Congress get it. I am still confident we can get a vote on this before 
the election, hopefully, when we come back in September, and we are 
going to continue to push on that.
  And with that I would yield back to my good friend, the gentleman 
from California.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Well, I thank the gentleman from Ohio. 
And the one thing that he was talking about was we flew over ANWR. We 
took a few photos. And what you will see here, here is a photo of ANWR. 
You wonder, where are the animals? Where are they at?
  And people wonder about, well, how far away is this from where we are 
currently drilling? It is within 70 miles. 10 billion barrels of oil 
sitting right there. It would not take you 10 years to begin.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Will the gentleman yield?

[[Page 17371]]

  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Gladly.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. One of the arguments we hear is just what the 
gentleman brought up, it is going to take 8 to 10 years to bring this 
production. We forget about the fact that, as you indicated, ANWR is 
only 70, 75 miles away from the existing pipeline. We have already got 
that infrastructure in place.
  And as the gentleman indicated earlier, it used to be 2 million 
barrels a day moving through that pipeline. Today it is 700,000. If it 
gets to a certain level, it drops to a certain low level, it becomes 
physically, the feasibility physically is just not there to continue to 
maintain it. And frankly, from an economic standpoint, there needs to 
be a certain volume of oil moving through that every day.
  This place is right next door, 75 miles away. And the infrastructure 
is in place. It will take a lot less time to get that oil to market and 
help every single family.

                              {time}  2145

  Mr. McCARTHY of California. The gentleman makes a very good point 
because in 1970 when this was created, back then when Jimmy Carter 
became President of the United States, he had full intention of 
drilling in ANWR because that's where the oil is. That's why you put 
the windmills where the wind blows and the solar panels where the sun 
shines. You discover where it's at.
  And what the Member did talk about was if you look here, this is 
where we currently are, and ANWR is just to the side. And you're 
wondering just how large is it. It's 19 million acres. We're looking at 
only talking about 2,000 acres.
  To put it in perspective, as you go out when school starts back up, 
you go to your high school football games, I want you to look across 
that football field when no one's there. I want you to just look out at 
it, and I want you to take one little postage stamp and set it on the 
field. That's the equivalency. That's how much we want to be able to 
talk about being able to get 1 million barrels of oil a day out of 
ANWR, a postage stamp on a football field.
  The gentleman from Ohio brought up a very good point that we have 
this infrastructure, this pipeline. It produces 700,000 barrels a day. 
Once it goes to 300,000, it will no longer produce then. You have to 
have more than that.
  Now I would like to yield to my good friend, a new member from the 
freshman class from the First District of Louisiana, Steve Scalise.
  Mr. SCALISE. Thank you. And I want to thank my colleague from 
California for putting this together. I think it's very important that 
while our country is facing a national energy crisis, the only debate 
that's going on on the House floor is right here tonight with Members 
of the freshmen class that are sick and tired of the delays and the 
inaction of the leadership of this Democratically controlled Congress.
  Madam Speaker, I think today might have been one of the lows of that 
110th Congress, the fact that the only real vote that was taken today 
on this floor was a vote to adjourn Congress for 5 weeks. The fact that 
Congress passed a resolution to adjourn for 5 weeks and take a vacation 
at a time when our country is facing a national energy crisis--we 
should be here debating solutions to this problem. We should be here 
talking about the proposals that are on the table. And there are a 
number of proposals that are on the table to debate.
  If the leadership doesn't want to have a straight up-or-down vote, 
there's going to have to be some reckoning because the American people 
are sick and tired of it. I think if you look right now--and it's 
ironic, and it is very unfortunate, that many of the families in my 
district, in my colleagues' districts, throughout this country, 
families are canceling their summer vacations because they can't afford 
the price of energy to go to the places that they wanted to go this 
summer.
  So what is Congress doing to address that big problem that's facing 
our country? Today Congress voted by one vote, voted to take a 5-week 
vacation at a time when American families are canceling their 
vacations. I think that's a low point for this Democratically 
controlled Congress, and I think they're going to have a hard time 
answering to the people why they won't bring up a vote.
  What are they afraid of? Are they afraid of debating these ideas that 
we put on the table?
  I filed a bill called the GAS Act, Grow American Supply. Removes the 
barrier that exists. There's a congressional ban on drilling in the 
Outer Continental Shelf. I come from Louisiana. We know how to drill in 
an environmentally safe way. People know that you can drill and not do 
harm to the environment. In fact, now the environment thrives in the 
areas where drilling occurs. The best place to go fishing in south 
Louisiana is next to an oil rig because the fish congregate around that 
area. It's an estuary for them.
  By the same token, when we went on that American energy tour when we 
were in Alaska, we went to Mile Marker Zero, the beginning of the 
Alaskan pipeline, and we saw three caribou approach about 40 yards 
away. They were just walking to us. They weren't afraid of us. They 
were walking towards the pipeline, and we found out back when they 
built the pipeline 30 years ago, some of these same radical groups that 
don't want to explore natural resources in America today, some of those 
same radical groups were saying, ``Don't build the Alaskan pipeline. 
You'll destroy the caribou population.'' They were there.
  You can't find them now because guess what happened? After they built 
the pipeline, the caribou population increased by about five times, a 
five-fold increase in the caribou population because they like the 
warmth of the pipeline and they mate around the pipeline. So it's 
actually helped the environment. You can peacefully coexist with the 
natural habitat by safely and environmentally friendly drilling in 
exploration for our natural resources.
  So we put all of those different solutions, the all-of-the-above plan 
that my friend from California talked about in a bill called the 
American Energy Act, and everybody in this room cosponsored it. I would 
encourage all of my Democratic friends to cosponsor the bill as well 
because it is a comprehensive approach to a major national crisis 
that's facing our country.
  It doesn't just talk about exploration and drilling for oil. It talks 
about renewable sources of energy, the things that we found at the 
National Renewable Energy Lab when we went and looked at the wind and 
solar and the hydrogen technologies that are being advanced.
  But even the people that are advancing those technologies will 
readily admit that those technologies alone will not meet the energy 
needs of our country 10 years from now, 20 years from now. You're still 
going to have to have a reliance on multiple sources, multiple 
approaches to this, including fossil fuels.
  So we look at things like oil shale and tar sands where we know we 
can get billions of barrels of oil. Yet what's standing in the way? The 
Democratically controlled Congress will not let us have a vote on 
lifting a Federal moratorium that even exists on exploring those 
alternative sources of energy.
  So I think the more that the American people see this, and the fact 
that they see every 2 weeks or so the Democratically-controlled 
Congress brings out another scapegoat, another person to blame. They 
blamed OPEC and said, ``Let's sue OPEC.'' And then the price rose. And 
then they said, ``What about use-it-or-lose-it, and oil companies are 
sitting on millions of acres of leases.'' And then people looked at 
that and researched it and realized that's not true.
  In fact, it's some of these radical environmental groups that filed 
lawsuits to stop people from exploring for our own natural resources, 
and that's the biggest delay in bringing oil to the markets so that our 
people can see a lower price of gasoline.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. SCALISE. I will happily yield.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. I just want to ask the gentleman a question. He 
comes from Louisiana.

[[Page 17372]]

  Isn't it true that the oil production facilities offshore in your 
State in the gulf that during Katrina, that terrible disaster that hit 
our country, hit your State so hard, but isn't it true those production 
facilities withstood that hurricane and there was no spill, no 
environmental hazard whatsoever during that entire storm?
  Mr. SCALISE. My colleague makes a great point because that, in fact, 
is what happens.
  Katrina was a horrible, horrible tragedy. Hurricane Rita came right 
behind it. So you had two of the worst hurricanes in our Nation's 
history, came through the Gulf of Mexico within a few week period of 
time of each other, and many rigs were knocked down. We saw the price 
of oil go up because our State supply is about 30 percent of the 
Nation's domestically produced oil. We would sure like to increase that 
percentage.
  But when those rigs got knocked down, one thing that didn't happen is 
you did not see environmental spills because they do, they do drill 
today in an environmentally safe way, and you had no disasters because 
they know how to do it in a very technologically safe way, as my friend 
from California showed.
  The platform, the footprint of an oil rig today is about one-fourth 
of the size of an oil rig just a few decades ago, and yet they can also 
drill in a wider area, directionally drill up to 8 miles. So the 
technology is there.
  We have a plan that we've laid out, and if the Democratically 
controlled Congress has a better idea, put it on the table. Let's stay. 
Let's roll up or sleeves during this next 5 weeks and solve this crisis 
rather than taking a 5-week vacation, which is the plan, I guess, the 
only energy plan that the Democratically controlled Congress had.
  That's why I'm proud to say no Republicans voted to adjourn because 
we want to stay here and work on the solution because, we know, we've 
got the ingenuity here in our country. We've got the technology to 
lower gas prices.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana. He 
made some very good points. And one thing you think of this House and 
you think of America. I still believe this is the most beautiful 
building we have in all of this country. You would think the power of 
the idea would win at the end of the day. And you would think of the 
debates you have here. But when did you ever think that the Democratic 
controlled Congress would be so afraid of having a debate, to actually 
allow a vote to take place? They have the majority. They can vote the 
way they want.
  Today they had the majority to vote to adjourn. Now they're going to 
have to go home and answer to the American people why they are not back 
working and finding an American independent energy policy to move 
forward.
  Now I would like to yield to my good friend from eastern Tennessee, 
David Davis. 
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Thank you for your leadership on this 
subject and so many others. It's good to be with you tonight and many 
of my colleagues from around the country.
  The American people are hurting. Young families are hurting, senior 
adults are hurting, small businesses are hurting. Energy prices are 
hurting us all. A family that rents cabins for a living in my district 
back in northeast Tennessee recently told me they have seen a 50 to 60 
percent decrease in rentals during the past spring and summer. They 
told me that this decrease in rentals may force the family business to 
go into bankruptcy because they rely on tourists who travel to the 
beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee.
  Oil prices also affect the cost of many of our daily essentials. Here 
is just a small list of everyday items that rely on oil for their 
production. See if you use any of these products. We need oil. We need 
American oil.
  Hearing aids, tennis rackets, eyeglasses, soft contact lenses, trash 
bags, glue, ballpoint pens, carpets, tires, artificial limbs, bandages, 
and dentures, to name just a few.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. Would the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Yes.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I appreciate the gentleman going through that 
list of things.
  I used to farm. I'm a medical doctor, as you know, and a lot of 
things that we deal with in health care are petroleum-based also. But 
as a farmer, I used not only diesel fuel in my tractor, but I also used 
oil-based or petroleum-based products to keep weeds out of my crops, to 
keep bugs out of my crops, and those sorts of things.
  Having a shortage of oil is going to drastically affect agriculture, 
which means it's going to drastically affect food prices to every 
single consumer in America today. That's another reason why I think 
it's absolutely critical that we get American oil and stop being 
dependent upon this Middle East oil and foreign oil.
  So I appreciate the gentleman yielding. But I wanted to add that as 
just another issue that's extremely critical for us to think about as 
we look because it's going to hurt the American consumer when they go 
to the grocery store that they can't buy their groceries at a 
reasonable price. So it not only hurts people at the pump but it hurts 
people in the grocery store. It hurts people at their job and in every 
single other way.
  Mr. JORDAN of Ohio. Today in the Budget Committee we had a hearing 
today where we were talking about the increased price in food. We had 
two economists that were a part of the panel, and I asked them how 
much--you think about the fact that every commodity price is up. I 
asked them, I said, How much of all of these other commodity prices, 
the price being driven up, is attributable to the price of fuel? And 
they couldn't give a percentage, but they said it's a lot.
  And it's not just a lot. When you think about the farmer and the fact 
that his input costs and just putting diesel in the tractor to plant 
the crops and harvest and cultivate the crops, but it's all our 
distribution. You have got to move all of these products that my friend 
from Tennessee listed, that my friend from Georgia talked about in 
agriculture. You have got to move them across this country.
  Fuel drives up every single other commodity price, and that's why, 
again, it highlights and underscores the fact that we have got to pass 
legislation that allows us to get more supply.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Very good points. And I represent a 
rural east Tennessee district that has a lot of farming as well. You 
make some good points.
  You actually start, when you start to till the ground, you have to 
have diesel. The cost has gone up to the point where it's almost put 
some farmers out of business. Then you have to put fertilizer on the 
ground, if you can afford it. If you don't have the fertilizer, you 
don't make the product. So it really is hurting people from all 
backgrounds.
  Families are canceling vacations. Police departments are cutting 
patrols. Small businesses are closing across America. Moms and dads are 
sitting around their kitchen tables trying to put a budget together to 
decide if they're going to be able to send their kids to school and buy 
the products that they need, all while the leadership here in 
Washington refuses an up-or-down vote on increasing American energy.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Would the gentleman yield for one moment?
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Yes.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. So what the gentleman is saying is the 
Democratic controlled Congress, the majority who controls what comes to 
the floor, will not even allow a vote? Not even allow a vote on a plan 
that says all-of-the-above, that says ``yes'' to solar, ``yes'' to 
wind, ``yes'' to more drilling, ``yes'' to the new technologies for 
geothermal and others, but you can't even have a vote on this floor?
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. If they will allow us to vote, I will 
vote ``yes.'' They may decide to vote ``no.'' But we need to be able to 
vote and vote the will of the American people.
  We have 435 distinct, separate districts across America. Out of those 
435, I'm sure some will vote ``no,'' some will

[[Page 17373]]

vote ``yes,'' but it's really up to Speaker Pelosi to allow it to come 
to the floor for a vote. The American people sent us here to do a job.
  Mr. HELLER of Nevada. If the gentleman will yield.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Yes.
  Mr. HELLER of Nevada. Thank you.
  You make a very good point on this.
  You have heard me say this before, but this energy policy is a three-
legged stool. We have to conserve; we have to look at renewable 
sources; we also need to drill for more oil. You can't do one without 
the other. You'll have an energy policy that fails. You can't do two 
without the third or that energy policy will fail.
  I'll tell you what I got out of this trip to ANWR, which I thought 
overall really put this in perspective for me. And that is, as was 
mentioned, we use 20 million barrels of oil a day here in this country. 
If we do everything we can to conserve--and the American people are 
moving in that direction, and I applaud that--if we do everything we 
possibly can for renewable energy, and that is meet our goals--we have 
a goal here in these Chambers of 15 percent by the year 2020. If we 
meet those goals, if we conserve, we're still going to need an 
additional 10 million barrels of oil a day by 2030.

                              {time}  2200

  So where are we going to get the additional 10 million barrels of oil 
that the American people are going to need if we continue to stop this 
possibility of going to ANWR, going offshore, looking at shale, looking 
at all these other prospects, and building additional refineries: Where 
are we going to get that additional 3 million barrels that we are going 
to need, even though we're on top of the renewable process and we have 
conserved, as the American people are doing today? That's the question 
that needs to be answered.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. You make a great point, Congressman Heller.
  I keep hearing from the other side, from the radical 
environmentalists, as well as the Democratic leadership that won't let 
us vote on this bill, that it will take 10 years if we pass a bill--if 
we're to pass this bill, it will take 10 years to start producing oil. 
That's hogwash.
  We don't have enough refinery capacity in America. We need to build 
new refineries, and they say it will take 10 years to get them 
permitted. And that's hogwash. If Habitat for Humanity can build a 
house in one week that will withstand a hurricane, as we've seen it 
happen, if America just has the gumption to do so, we could build a 
refinery in a year. We could start pumping oil very quickly.
  But Nancy Pelosi's leadership won't allow us to vote, and it's just 
absolutely unconscionable to me that we can't vote to supply more oil 
and stop this dependence upon foreign oil. It is absolutely critical 
for our national security.
  Mr. HELLER of Nevada. In my local newspaper just today, there was an 
article written by some of the people that you're talking about, some 
of the more extreme environmentalists saying that this country would be 
better off today if we had the same gas prices as they have in Holland, 
$10 a gallon: $10 a gallon, if we had that, America would be better 
off. I have a hard time believing that we are better off if we to try 
to Europeanize ourselves and increase the price per gallon.
  I've had town hall meetings. I've had over a hundred thousand people 
polled of what they thought of a 50 cent per gallon increase. Eighty-
two percent are against it. We have people now calling for doubling the 
gasoline prices we have today.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. You're all raising very good points, but 
you're showing what is happening on this floor by not allowing the 
vote. But there is another way. There is all-of-the-above. If we were 
able to drill in ANWR, the Federal Reserve Chair said, if you increase 
production by 1 percent, it goes down 10 percent. ANWR will produce 1 
million barrels a day. That automatically would lower the price per 
gallon by 50 cents.
  But think about what's happening today. It's the largest transfer of 
wealth from our country, America, to countries that disagree with us. 
If we had an American energy plan that made us independent, what else 
does it do? It creates American jobs. The $700 billion stays in 
America.
  Mr. WALBERG. If the gentleman would yield, I'd love to hop on that 
point there.
  We talk about those that we pay, and in some cases, even prop up 
their economy such as Venezuela with Hugo Chavez, who is a dictator who 
has said that he wants America to be defeated and off the face of the 
Earth as it were. But we send a check to him of $170 million per day 
that props up his failing regime, that allows him to continue, and we 
pay this to an enemy.
  I would also submit to you, as I mentioned earlier, as I come from 
the former motor capital of the world, we have a Volt vehicle that GM 
is producing that has the ability to run 40 miles, whether standing in 
traffic, in a traffic jam, or going 40 miles straight on electric 
power. Most people in their commute would allow them to purchase that 
Volt vehicle and never have to use the gas portion of the propulsion.
  Now, keeping that in mind, we're talking about drilling and we need 
to drill, but we're also talking about our plan, all-of-the-above, 
which includes nuclear power, wind power, solar power. I submit to you 
that, if we have an electric vehicle like that, it won't be any good if 
we don't do some of the infrastructure.
  We need nuclear power to produce that electricity. We need an 
infrastructure to get it to the box where they have to plug in to 
recharge. Now, that would allow us the opportunity to expand.
  And the gentleman from Nevada, you bring up a good point about those 
that offer alternatives. We have, at present, the founder of Greenpeace 
on our side about alternative fuels and the specific nature of nuclear 
power who says nuclear power is the greenest energy that we can have 
and we ought to be producing more nuclear power, we ought to be putting 
nuclear plants up.
  So with drilling, with nuclear power, with wind, with solar, with all 
of the above, natural gas and others, we can make this country 
independent from any other country on this Earth and put ourselves back 
in a competitive position that not only allows us to continue our 
lifestyle and expand it the world around, but also make ourselves 
secure.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. These are all great things and they're included 
in the American energy plan, and that's the reason we need to vote on 
these. And I think it's absolutely critical--all of us voted to stay 
here to vote on this bill, and I think it's critical for us to do so.
  But a lot of naysayers say, well, even if we voted on this bill, it 
would take a long time to lower the cost of gas. But I just submit what 
happened when the President rescinded the Presidential moratorium on 
offshore drilling. Oil prices immediately fell. Gas prices are coming 
down. If we would vote on this bill and pass it, I guarantee you almost 
overnight we'd see much, much lower prices of gas at the pump, and oil 
prices would come down.
  We had this bill about speculation. Well, this is the way to deal 
with speculation. Let's pass this bill. It will stop the whole problem 
that we hear from the Democratic side about speculators running up the 
cost of oil. That's hogwash, too. We need to pass this bill, and I call 
on the Democratic leadership to bring it to the floor.
  Mr. SCALISE. Again, a lot of interesting points are being brought up, 
great points that you just brought up, and ultimately, this comes down 
to a supply-and-demand problem. And when you're talking about the 
price, you are exactly right, because when you talk to economic 
experts, what they will tell you--and anybody that understands basic 
market economics, and I think most people in the American country do--
unfortunately, I think the Democratically-controlled leadership of this 
Congress doesn't understand that you've got an increase in global 
demand for oil all across this world, not just in the United States, 
and yet the supply is flat. OPEC's not going to

[[Page 17374]]

increase their supply because they want a high price.
  But we here in our country have the ability to increase some of those 
moratoriums that were arbitrarily placed by Congress. And you talked 
about the President lifting the ban on Outer Continental Shelf 
drilling. You saw a $10 drop in the price of a barrel of oil in just 1 
day because of an executive ban, even though still now and I think most 
in people in the country now see that the only thing standing in the 
way of opening up that Outer Continental Shelf to drilling is the 
congressional ban that's in place, and that's the ban that's part of 
the all-of-the-above strategy, and we're asking Speaker Pelosi to just 
give us a vote on that.
  If she wants to disagree with it, if these radical environmental 
groups don't want to do that, that's their prerogative, but let's have 
a straight up-or-down vote. I think that a lot of Democrats would vote 
for that, too, as well as Republicans because ultimately you would see 
a real solution being placed on the table.
  But in fact, what we're left with is this do-nothing approach and the 
leadership in Congress saying let's adjourn for 5 weeks rather than 
address this problem because they're afraid of the realization, and I 
think they realize that if we had a vote on this, we opened it up to 
all amendments so that we could actually talk about a full, 
comprehensive energy plan which our country doesn't have--the fact that 
if we did that, you would see an immediate drop, even bigger than that 
$10 a barrel drop you saw that one day. You would see a dramatic drop, 
as my friend from California talked about, at least a 20 percent drop, 
which our people, our constituents all across this country would 
realize very quickly in a lower price of gas at the pump, and that's 
ultimately what we should be trying to achieve.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. We're here tonight to ask the Democrat 
majority to let us take a vote on all-the-above, no more excuses.
  You know, the interesting thing is we actually took a vote on the 
floor today. You know, we're here taking votes, 435 Members. We took a 
vote today to go home. So leadership's letting us take votes but just 
not on energy bills. I think that's a point that ought to be taken to 
the American people. They need to understand that we're taking votes. 
We're just not taking votes to increase the supply of energy. All of 
the above, wind, solar, coal, oil, drilling, natural gas, we're taking 
votes but not to increase energy. We're taking votes to go home for 5 
weeks. That means for 5 weeks gasoline prices are going to be high back 
in northeast Tennessee. That's not what the American people look for.
  Mr. BROUN of Georgia. I ask any Member here, what's the Democratic 
leadership afraid of? Do y'all know? I think they're afraid it will 
pass. I think that's the problem. I think they're afraid that this will 
pass and they won't have the environmental wackos and radical 
environmentalists that they can pander to anymore.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. I think I have an answer to that 
because I do believe there are some commonsense Democrats on this 
floor. This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democrat issue. 
This is an American issue. The only thing standing between us and the 
vote is Nancy Pelosi's Democrat leadership. I would call on the 
Democrat leadership to let us vote. Let Republicans vote. Let Democrats 
vote. Let them vote their conscience. Let them vote their district.
  And I would, without a doubt, believe that we could go home on August 
1, 48 hours from now, with an energy plan that would bring down prices 
at the pump because there's going to be some commonsense Democrats that 
will vote to make sure that moms and dads have some relief at the pump; 
young families have some relief at the pump; senior adults have some 
relief at the pump; small businesses have some relief at the pump. We 
need some relief at the pump.
  Mr. McCARTHY of California. Reclaiming my time, because as we begin 
to end here, one, I want to thank all my colleagues for coming down, 
for talking to the American people about the quarterly report, telling 
them what actually goes on in this building.
  When we think for one moment that, as this House adjourns--not 
because anybody on this floor right now voted to adjourn. We said let's 
stay here and let's create a plan that creates an energy program that 
has all the above, from wind, to solar, to hydrogen, to nuclear, to 
exploration, takes us into the new frontier.
  Because when you think of the floor that we're on, they built this 
Dome in the Civil War. You think of the challenges that this country 
has faced. And time and time again, we have met that challenge. But how 
did we meet that challenge? By not being afraid of debate, by not being 
afraid of the idea coming forward, not being afraid of one side of the 
aisle or the other, not saying the country's red or blue. This country 
is red, white and blue.
  And that's the American energy plan we have. It makes us American 
independent of foreign countries. It stops sending the greatest amount 
of wealth out of this country to somebody else by creating American 
jobs right here.
  But the only way we're ever going to be able to do it is that this 
Democratic-controlled Congress has got to change. It's got to allow the 
idea to come forth and not be afraid of the vote.
  So, today, when you go home and when you see your Member out maybe in 
a parade, maybe on a street corner, maybe they're having a town hall 
meeting, ask that Member if they voted to adjourn. Did they vote to 
stay? Did they vote to make America energy independent? Or did they 
vote no, let's go home, let's let that price go up higher?
  Well, I want to thank the Members for being a part of this tonight, 
and thank you for coming down and telling the American people where the 
report stands, where we're going forward and being willing to lead, 
going to Golden, Colorado, to see the renewable energy, and going to 
ANWR.

                          ____________________