[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7024-7026]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               GAS PRICES

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as the summer travel season rapidly 
approaches, the cost of gasoline continues to skyrocket and the 
American people are left to wonder whether Congress has any plans to do 
anything about it. Unfortunately, every ``commonsense solution'' that 
has been offered seems to be far from common sense or a solution 
because most of those that have been offered within the last year would 
only serve to raise, not lower, gasoline prices.
  So far, Congress has offered the American people little more than 
newsclips and sound bites from hours of endless hearings lambasting, 
usually, the oil companies. The result, of course, has not been any 
reduction in gasoline prices but proposal after proposal to raise taxes 
on America's energy companies, which--guess what--would ultimately be 
passed on to the consumer, thus raising prices and not lowering prices. 
This policy posture reminds me of a quip from former President Ronald 
Reagan, who said, ``Congress' approach is that if it moves, tax it; if 
it keeps moving, regulate it; if it stops moving, subsidize it.''
  History has shown that a tax increase ultimately has the effect of 
not only passing along costs to the ultimate consumer but of 
drastically reducing supply. From 1980 to 1988, this same tax idea, so-
called windfall profits tax, actually caused a decline in oil 
production, reducing domestic oil by as much as 8 percent--that is 
right, reducing America's supply of its own natural resources and 
increasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil. The result, of 
course, was not eliminating a perceived windfall but, rather, causing a 
precipitous fall in production of American oil and, as I said, an 
increased dependence on foreign oil.
  The problem, then, is the same as the problem today--not a cabal of 
oil executives conspiring to swindle the American people but a shortage 
of oil around the world. With burgeoning economies such as those in 
China and India, demand for oil has skyrocketed, while the supply has 
lagged behind. Raising a tax on domestic energy companies only takes 
away from the capital that could be used to reinvest in domestic energy 
discovery and production. It does nothing to address the world's 
stagnant supply of oil.
  We can pass a lot of laws here in Congress, and we can actually 
repeal a law every now and then, but we can't repeal the law of supply 
and demand. This is the law that for some reason Congress just refuses 
to learn. In fact, one of the leading contributors to oil shortages in 
America is actually Congress itself, which refuses to allow our 
domestic oil companies to tap into American natural resources.
  Revisiting failed policies of past decades and trying to beat the 
same old dead horse will not address our current energy challenges. 
Instead, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have 
suggested a new solution, one of their new ``commonsense'' solutions: 
They will simply sue OPEC for more oil. Aside from the almost comical 
image of suing OPEC and somehow finding some court somewhere in the 
world that will accept jurisdiction of that lawsuit and somehow then 
direct OPEC to produce more oil so that

[[Page 7025]]

American consumers can enjoy lower prices for that oil, I would be 
concerned, first of all, how OPEC might respond to such a threat. Would 
they simply laugh it off or would they turn off the spigot? But let's 
say the proponents of suing OPEC were successful. Would that make us 
more dependent or less dependent on imported oil from foreign sources? 
I think it is obvious that it would continue to make us more dependent 
on foreign sources of oil.
  We simply have to get out of this mindset that we can tax, regulate, 
and litigate our way to greater energy independence.
  At the same time, one of the things we can all agree on is the need 
for America to be less dependent on foreign sources of oil. We need to 
remember how much of an impact our energy policies have on the lives of 
our constituents, of 300 million American citizens. High gas prices are 
driving up the cost of living, they are raising the cost of driving to 
work, driving your children to school, they are driving up the price of 
fuel for the airline industry that is hitting American travelers even 
harder.
  While it is important that we increase our supply of energy from all 
sources, we need to recognize too that the heavy hand of the Federal 
Government can sometimes have unintended consequences. Our 
subsidization of ethanol as a fuel source is driving up food prices, as 
limited supplies of corn are being split between fuel, food, and 
livestock feed.
  At the same time, rising prices at the pump are hitting families at 
the dinner table as well, as transportation costs continue to drive up 
food prices. Now, there is no question that in the long term, renewable 
fuels are an important answer to the energy crisis we face today. But 
it is also irrefutable that oil, whether from American sources or 
foreign sources, will continue to be a large part of our energy supply 
in the near to midterm.
  Our solution to increasing the supply of oil must begin here at home, 
using America's vast natural resources. We can develop environmentally 
responsible oil production here at home if Congress would simply get 
out of the way and allow American companies to do so. In short, the 
majority's response to high gasoline prices appears to be summed up in 
three words: Posturing, suing, and raising taxes, none of which is 
designed to provide effective solutions to the problems that confront 
working families in America today.
  The end result is an energy policy that shuts off the valve of 
American energy, while desperately awaiting the last drops from the 
trickling pipeline of foreign oil. This schizophrenic approach to gas 
prices is best summed up in a cartoon I saw recently which I wish to 
share with my colleagues. This is from Investor's Business Daily 
earlier this month.
  While Democrats demand energy companies solve their problem, they 
simultaneously have rejected every responsible solution. As this 
cartoon points out, the first segment says, ``We demand you energy 
companies do something about these high energy prices,'' to which they 
respond, ``We can drill in ANWR.'' That is in Alaska. The answer: 
``Forget it.''
  ``How about offshore?'' The answer: ``Are you crazy?''
  ``How about clean coal?'' ``Out of the question.''
  ``Nuclear power?'' ``You are joking, right?''
  ``Well, don't just sit there, do something.''
  That is what Congress keeps telling the energy producers in this 
country time and time again. But every proposed solution, whether it is 
drilling in Alaska, whether it is developing offshore resources from 
the Outer Continental Shelf, whether it is investing America's 
ingenuity and know-how in using clean coal technology or nuclear energy 
or nuclear power, Congress seems to answer: No, no, a thousand times, 
no. And the price of oil and the price of energy for American consumers 
keeps going up, up, and up. With this kind of response from Congress, 
no wonder energy prices are so high.
  At every turn, we handcuff American producers while at the same time 
demand they fix the problems that Congress is creating. The only real 
commonsense solution is to finally take advantage of the resources we 
have in this country with which we have been richly blessed. It is 
estimated that if the Congress stopped penalizing and handcuffing our 
domestic energy supply, we could produce as much as 2.7 to 3 million 
barrels of oil a day in addition to what is being produced now.
  Does that not make more sense than continuing to rely on countries 
such as Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, and enriching our enemies and those 
who use that oil wealth to invest in military weapons and the like?
  Allowing American companies to begin producing this oil would send a 
strong message to the American people and to the market, which has run 
up the price of oil to about $120 a barrel because of speculation that 
Congress intends to do nothing about it, and this static supply and 
increasing demand continues to drive up the price of oil and refined 
petroleum products.
  But the message, if we were to pass some of this commonsense 
legislation, would be to tell the marketplace and the speculators we 
are serious about addressing this by producing as much as 3 million 
additional barrels of oil here in America each day. It would bring down 
the price, I believe precipitously, and I believe nearly immediately.
  Demonstrating our commitment in this way would have an immediate 
impact, but, unfortunately, we find ourselves locked into the same old 
``he said, she said'' sort of arguments and nothing seems to happen, to 
the detriment of the American consumer.
  We find that sound energy policies continue to be blocked that would 
provide access to our vast natural resources here at home. If we are 
tired of relying upon other nations for our energy needs, along with 
the national security and economic risks that that entails, if we are 
tired of paying high prices for their low production, is it not time we 
did something about it here at home?
  It would be nice to see a ``Made in America'' sticker on the side of 
a gas pump for once. Aside from demonstrating our independence and 
lowering gas prices, it would provide a boom to our economy. What 
better stimulus to our economy could there be than creating new jobs 
here in America as a result of increased activity, exploring and 
developing our natural resources right here at home?
  We have a potentially enormous domestic energy industry waiting to be 
permitted by Congress to start going to work. Once we give them that 
opportunity, it will mean the creation of thousands of new jobs as well 
as more affordable gasoline and less dependence on foreign oil and gas 
from dangerous parts of the world.
  While opening American resources would be beneficial, it will not 
have the full intended effect unless we also encourage companies to 
build new refinery capacity here in America. Of course, 70 percent of 
the cost of gasoline is due to the cost of oil. But a lack of adequate 
refinery capacity to take that oil and to make it into gasoline is 
another reason why the supply has been limited and prices continue to 
go up.
  We have not built any new refineries in America since the 1970s, 
primarily because of burdensome regulation by the Federal Government. 
Since we have that limited capacity, we once again run in that pesky 
old law of supply and demand; the only law that, try as some of my 
colleagues might, we cannot repeal and we cannot ignore.
  If we do not increase refinery capacity, prices will only continue to 
go higher. While we increase American oil production and lower our gas 
prices, we should also pursue technological developments and good old 
American know-how that will allow us to take advantage of the energy 
resources we do have here and are available.
  We should not forget conservation efforts, and this has been one area 
where Congress has gotten it right by passing commonsense fuel 
efficiency requirements for automobiles and conserving this scarce 
resource.
  We need to also be good stewards of the environment and ensure that 
we

[[Page 7026]]

are doing all we can to use our resources wisely and not wastefully.
  Finally, we need to pursue alternative energy solutions that will 
ensure our future energy production is secure. We need to start now to 
utilize and develop energy production methods that will work alongside 
of oil and gasoline to power America's economy into the future, sources 
such as, as I mentioned a moment ago, clean coal, nuclear energy; even 
biofuel and wind can be part of the answer to the overall fuel and 
energy mix our country needs.
  But we need to give all of these potential power sources a free and 
open chance to develop and to reach their potential in the marketplace. 
We must encourage American innovation and technology to help us develop 
the ability to use these in a way that is compatible with a good 
environment.
  We must be careful not to play favorites, as unfortunately we have, 
and are now seeing the consequences come home to roost and turn these 
industries into political tools. Different energies will work better in 
different areas, and all of them can work together to provide America 
with cost-efficient energy and the strong energy industry we need in 
order to fuel our growing economy.
  But our future energy production starts today with removing the 
roadblocks that this cartoon indicates that Congress has thrown in 
front of every opportunity to increase energy supply and bring down the 
cost ultimately to the consumer.
  We cannot make up for lost time, but we can start today by 
recognizing the mistakes of the past and what that has actually done to 
run up the cost of gasoline at the pump and made us even more 
dependent. We need to act now to build a strong American energy policy, 
bring down the price of gasoline, and free ourselves from foreign oil-
producing nations, many of which want to do us harm.
  Every day we delay brings a heavier burden on American families with 
the cost of gasoline. We cannot ask the American people to foot the 
bill for our inaction any longer. It is time for Congress to take 
responsibility for gas prices in America, by allowing our industries to 
utilize the American resources that are available to us that will 
eventually help bring that price down.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip.

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