[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     A NEW DIRECTION ENERGY POLICY

  (Mr. WALZ of Minnesota asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, it is true: The Bush-Cheney 
energy plan has been a giant success, but for big oil companies, not 
the American people. America is still addicted to foreign oil, and gas 
prices are through the roof.
  It's time for a new direction in our energy policy. This week, House 
Democrats are bringing up that legislation. I was proud to work with a 
bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans to craft a piece of 
legislation. Many of those ideas are incorporated into this plan. It 
invests in renewable energy, responsibly increases domestic supply by 
opening up the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling and releases oil 
from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  One thing it does that is very good, it eliminates unnecessary tax 
breaks and subsidies to Big Oil and asks them to pay their fair share 
of royalties so we can invest in renewables.
  All Americans, Republicans and Democrats, who believe it is time for 
our country to move in a new direction towards energy independence 
should join us and move this ball forward. This legislation will create 
millions of good-paying American jobs in the renewable energy industry, 
and it will begin to break the stranglehold of foreign oil over this 
Nation.

                          ____________________