[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21781]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                   LOWERING GAS PRICES, CREATING JOBS

  (Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Speaker, as I travel across my district, helping 
with hurricane recovery, I am proud of the can-do spirit of the people 
of southwest Louisiana. Hurricanes Gustav and Ike caused amazing damage 
throughout my area, but neighbors are helping neighbors.
  These two storms also highlight the importance of American energy 
production in the Gulf of Mexico. High gas prices are affecting our 
food prices, the economy in general, and people's pocketbooks directly.
  Throughout August, I joined my fellow House Republicans in urging 
Speaker Pelosi to bring Congress back in session to help American 
families struggling with the dramatically high gas prices, but she 
refused.
  Now we can act. We can increase and diversify our energy supply, 
become less dependent on foreign sources of oil and create good high-
paying American jobs. Many of these energy jobs are going overseas, but 
we can keep them right here in America.
  By harnessing all of America's vast resources, we can help Americans 
in the short term and into the future. Let's do the responsible thing. 
Let's open parts of our deepwater coasts for energy exploration and 
pass a comprehensive energy bill. Let's begin to reduce the price at 
the pump.

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