[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19200]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A BIPARTISAN BILL IS NEEDED

  (Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise with disappointment 
today. People in my district and the working people of this country are 
begging us to resolve this energy issue. They're struggling to drive 
their cars, and they don't have any idea how they're going to heat 
their homes and run their businesses with today's energy prices. They 
expect us to do something.
  Speaker Pelosi's been telling the country that drilling's not the 
answer; it would take 10 years. Well, the Pelosi team drafted a bill. 
It will take 10 years, maybe 15, maybe 20, folks. This bill will not 
produce energy. It locks up 97 percent of the west coast forever. It 
locks up the most productive part of the gulf that we can produce 
quickly forever.
  Folks, we need a bipartisan bill. Twenty-three Republicans and 
Democrats sat down and drafted a bill, 11 Democrats and 12 Republicans. 
We drafted the Peterson-Abercrombie bill that opens up all kinds of 
energy for America, funds all the renewables, and gives hope to the 
American people.
  That's the kind of bill they don't want. They don't want a Republican 
bill. They don't want a Democrat bill. They want a bill that Members of 
this Congress sat down with no oil companies, no lobbyists. We sat down 
and drafted a simple bill--not 290 pages--one we could understand. We 
need to vote on a bipartisan energy bill that will give hope to the 
Americans that there is an economic future.

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