[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17937]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WHERE OH WHERE HAS CONGRESS GONE?

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 1, 2008

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, ``Where oh where has Congress gone,
  Where o where can they be?
  With gas so high and this recess so long,
  Where oh where can they be?''
  Where oh where has Congress gone? Well Madam Speaker, they're not 
here, they've gotten out of Dodge. They have left the American people 
behind in a cloud of dust and high gasoline prices. Congress is on the 
run; it has not dealt with the energy crisis and not attempted to solve 
high gasoline prices. So it's sneaking out of town for five weeks-gone 
on vacation.
  The American people won't be going on vacation, because they cannot 
afford gasoline to take a family trip. My 83 year old parents who are 
on fixed incomes cant even afford gasoline to go to church. So what is 
Congress' answer? Leave town in the darkness of the night?
  The question Madam Speaker is why? Why don't they stick around and 
let us vote on taking care of America? For example, let's vote on 
offshore drilling--most Americans favor it. We are the representatives 
of America. Let's vote, up or down, on offshore drilling. It's an 
environmental myth that we cannot drill safely offshore. We need to 
drill in ANWAR. Why didn't Congress stick around and vote on drilling 
in ANWAR?
  The American taxpayer shells out 425 million dollars a day to Saudi 
Arabia for crude oil. We pay this ransom because Congress won't take 
care of America. The United States is the only major power in the world 
that does not use its own natural resources. This is nonsense and 
rather than deal with this crisis Congress has turned its back on the 
American people--dispersed to parts unknown throughout the fruited 
plain and fled town. This is shameful conduct. The President should use 
his constitutional power and call for a special session of this 
Congress to deal with energy. We should round up all those members of 
Congress that have fled the scene, bring them back and solve this 
energy crisis--specifically high gasoline prices.
  ``Where oh where has Congress gone,
  Where o where can they be?
  With gas so high and this recess so long,
  Where oh where can they be?''
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________