[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 5991-5992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            HOPE AND CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. David Davis) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to 
tell you something about my district. I go home every single weekend 
because I take the word ``representative'' very seriously. I go home 
and speak with people living and working in my district because they 
are the ones who sent me to Washington to express their ideas and their 
concerns. Two common themes come up from the people in northeast 
Tennessee: hope and change. We hear a lot about those words today.
  They hope that sometime in the future they won't have to spend over 
$50 to fill up their pick-up truck. They want change, a change that 
will take them from dependence on foreign oil to clean, safe, and 
available American energy. Energy is the foundation and lifeblood of 
the American economy creating the conditions to help us support good-
paying jobs here in the United States and allow our industrial base to 
compete with the rest of the world.
  We all know that the middle-class families are feeling significant 
pain at the pump. But the American family isn't the only place where 
the strain of spiking fuel prices can be felt. According to recent news 
reports, local schools, law enforcement agencies, and other community 
services are paying the price for a record high-fuel cost. 
Unfortunately, Democrats in the House, who are now in charge, have been 
consistent in offering so-called energy legislation that weakens our 
ability to compete with emerging titans such as China, India, and 
Russia.
  In the United States today, we are 63 percent dependent on foreign 
sources of energy. 63 percent. And that percentage is growing every 
year. Gasoline prices have increased more than $1 per gallon since the 
majority party, under Speaker Pelosi, took control of the House last 
year, increasing from a nationwide average of $2.33 per gallon on the 
first day of the 110th Congress to now $3.34 a gallon. When Speaker 
Pelosi took office and had a plan to fix the energy cost, oil was 
selling for $56 a barrel. Now, it's selling for $113 a barrel. People 
are looking for hope and change.
  Figures from the Energy Information Administration indicate the U.S. 
reliance on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, commonly 
known as OPEC, grew from 50.9 percent of our total crude imports in 
2006 to 57.6 percent in 2007. Not only has the majority party failed to 
end our reliance on Middle Eastern oil for our essential energy needs, 
they've actually helped grow our dependence to historic and dangerous 
levels.
  We need to make sure that we're not dependent on our energy needs 
from people that hate us and hate our freedoms all because of their 
refusal to allow responsible energy production here at home. We cannot 
tax and regulate our way out of an energy crisis. The American people 
want an energy policy that's comprehensive and addresses our needs for 
wind, water, solar, safe nuclear, clean coal technology and, most 
importantly, the use of American oil.

[[Page 5992]]

  The American middle class deserves better. They deserve an energy 
policy that is dependent on American energy, not foreign energy.

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