[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7552-7557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       30-SOMETHING WORKING GROUP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is recognized for 
60 minutes.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to once 
again start our 30-Something hour. We will be joined later by 
Congressman Meek from Florida to talk about the issues of the day and 
how what has been happening here in Congress affects what is going on 
to young people, but not limited to just young people in the 30-
something bracket, but also to young people in college, young people in 
their 20s, young people trying to figure out how they are going to make 
their way in the American economy in the 21st century.
  As we know, Mr. Speaker, we have been given many challenges over the 
past few years here in Congress dealing with many of the issues that 
face Americans.
  Since Speaker Pelosi took over a short time ago, we have been 
committed, since this Congress was taken over by the Democratic Party, 
we have been committed to push initiatives that are consistent with the 
values that we hold dear in the United States of America. We hear a lot 
of rhetoric about values in this country, but if the policy initiatives 
that come out of this beautiful building in Washington, DC do not 
reflect our values, then we are in the wrong business.
  And I am proud to say that since we have taken over here, we have 
shifted course from policies that many Americans believe have taken us 
in the wrong direction. And many of us still believe, even those of us 
here think we have made a shift in policy, but it has been difficult 
with the President to try to get a complete pivot out of the months and 
months and months and years and years and years of bad policy.
  So I think it is important before we talk a little bit about what we 
have done is to go back and think about what we are trying to come out 
of, some of the challenges that this country faces. I think it is 
important to recognize politically that from 2000 until 2006, the 
Republican Party controlled the House, controlled the Senate, and 
controlled the White House. They had an opportunity to implement their 
policy--the neoconservative foreign policy, the conservative domestic 
policy, the conservative energy policy, the conservative higher-ed 
policy in America, the conservative ``compassionate conservative'' 
agenda on poverty and inequality--has all been implemented.
  So when we talk about what will it look like if the conservative 
agenda is implemented, I think that is a false analysis of what will it 
look like. I think we know. I think what we are

[[Page 7553]]

living with here today is the implementation of the conservative 
Republican agenda. They controlled the House, they controlled the 
Senate and the White House. The Bush tax policy, the Bush energy 
policy, all of these things that I have already mentioned have been 
implemented.
  And if you want to know what it looks like, all you really need to do 
is go to the gas tank. You need to get your health care bill and see 
what your premium and the costs look like. You need to pull out the 
stub of your child's tuition. All of these things are the end result of 
the Republican domestic agenda being implemented here in the United 
States of America. You may not like it. I know a lot of Republicans, 
Mr. Speaker, who don't like it, but that is where we are.
  And if you look at the financial situation that this country has been 
put in, the straightjacket that we have been put in that a lot of the 
changes that the Democratic Congress wants to make that we are at this 
point unable to make because of the financial position that we have 
been put in as a country and as a Nation, the fact of the matter is 
this: President Bush, Mr. Speaker, and the Republican Congresses that 
were under his watch borrowed more money from foreign interests than 
every President and Congress before President Bush combined.
  Now think about that. In just those few years, President Bush and the 
Republican Congress borrowed more money from foreign interests than 
every President and Congress before them combined. The Republican-
controlled Congress and President Bush raised the debt limit five times 
and borrowed $3 trillion primarily from Japan, China, and OPEC 
countries.
  Now you want to talk about a scam going on and a shell game, we have 
a situation where we are borrowing money from oil-producing countries 
to basically give us money to go out and buy their oil, or to borrow 
money from oil-producing countries and from China so we can fund a war 
at $12 billion a month and put it on the credit card. Now that seems to 
me the definition of insanity, Mr. Speaker. Three trillion dollars, and 
this is as simple as your house payment or your car payment. You borrow 
money and you have to pay interest on it.
  So countries like China will get the interest that the United States 
is paying on the money that we have borrowed, and the Chinese will take 
that money and they will sink it into developing and industrializing 
their own economy. And they are putting up nuclear plants so they have 
nuclear energy. And they are building roads, bridges and industrial 
parks. And they are funding their military and their navy. That is what 
they are doing with money that the United States is borrowing from 
them. And we take the money and we get ourselves into this war in Iraq 
at $12 billion a month, that is soon approaching a trillion dollars for 
the cost of the war, and some economists are saying at the end of the 
war, the grand total will be $3 trillion.
  Now from Youngstown, Ohio, and Niles, Ohio, and Akron, Ohio, the 
folks that I represent are not really comfortable with the United 
States taking their tax dollars and paying interest on money they are 
borrowing from the Chinese so that the Chinese can build manufacturing 
facilities and manipulate their currency and ship the products back to 
the United States and put American workers out of work.

                              {time}  1800

  Now, there's something ironic about what's happening there. And 
there's really something sick, Mr. Speaker, about what's happening 
here. And when you look at the polls and you hear people say that 70 
percent of Americans think that we're going in the wrong direction, the 
President has an approval rating of 28 percent, and the other 72 
percent do not approve of the job that he is doing, you have to ask 
yourself, what is wrong? What is wrong? What is going on to have this 
dramatic breach in the American body politic?
  And so, when Speaker Pelosi, and when we ran our elections in 2006 to 
come and take over Congress in 2007, it became imperative for us to try 
to pivot and shift this thing in another direction. So one of the 
issues is make sure that we pay for programs that we have here in the 
United States. No deficit spending.
  Now, we've had problems, especially with the war, because we're 
committed over there. And it's been very difficult. We've tried to get 
out.
  The President has vetoed every attempt we've ever tried to make. But 
we're trying to establish public policy in the United States of America 
that represent our values.
  And if you look at what we have pushed coming out of this body, I 
think most Americans would agree, these are some pretty basic steps 
that we want to take. First thing we did when we got in is raise the 
minimum wage. For the first time since 1997, the American worker got a 
pay raise. It wasn't much. It should be a lot more. But we did what we 
could. And we said, this is a priority for us. 10 years without an 
increase in the minimum wage, but health care and energy and all of 
these other costs are going up for folks. Let's try to lift some people 
up, reward work. And we did that.
  We have switched and tried to repeal the oil subsidies, corporate 
welfare, many of us know it as corporate welfare. Everyone hates 
welfare if we're giving it to poor people. They should go to work. They 
should work. This is America. We should not give welfare. That's the 
rhetoric that you hear.
  But behind the scenes, our friends on the other side and President 
Bush are very happy to give the oil companies 14 or $15 billion in oil 
subsidies, in energy subsidies.
  Now, can you imagine, and today when you go to the gas pump and you 
pay $3.50, $3.75, $4 for a gallon of gas. You think you're frosted just 
filling up the tank. Think about the fact that President Bush said that 
he will veto any bill that comes out of this House that repeals the $15 
billion that's going in corporate welfare to the oil companies.
  Now, can you imagine, in this day and age, where Exxon's profits are 
through the roof, that the President of the United States says he will 
veto a bill that strips the corporate welfare out?
  They're making tremendous profits. And what we have tried to do on 
the Democratic side, and Speaker Pelosi has tried to do, is to take 
that 14 or $15 billion away from the oil companies, away from the 
energy companies, and invest that money into alternative energy 
research; into wind, into biomass, into solar.
  Now, we all know that these alternative energy forms, there's not one 
silver bullet. There's not one project or product that's going to come 
out and save us all and be a panacea for the entire United States of 
America and the world. We know that.
  But Americans invent things. Americans make things better. Americans 
take a challenge and a problem and they fix it, and they solve it. They 
put the best and the brightest people that we have in this country, and 
they set a goal.
  I'm not going to go do the research. President Bush certainly isn't 
going to go do the research. We've got a couple of rocket scientists 
that belong in this body that have been elected by their constituents 
here that may be able to actually do some of the research. But, for the 
most part, our job here is to set the public policy and provide the 
resources and the leadership for the country. And that's what we're 
trying to do is to say, invest into the Department of Energy, partner 
with energy companies.
  We know you're not going to get rid of oil overnight. Many of us 
believe nuclear has a major role in what's going to happen here. But 
the bottom line is, let's make an investment into the United States, 
into the people, into the human resources that we have here to figure 
out what we're going to do, and then get the private sector and private 
enterprise to partner with us to get this thing kicked off.
  It is crucial for us to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, crucial 
because we can extract ourselves from a lot of these political 
situations that we find ourselves in. In a lot of the global politics 
that we see and read, if you

[[Page 7554]]

read between the lines and you think for yourself, you will see that 
there is some kind of energy component behind this, behind the politics 
that are going on, the geopolitics that are going on. And if we can 
become dependent on the Midwest instead of the Mideast, I think this 
country will remove itself from a lot of the problems that we have had, 
and we could help move this country forward. And that's what we are 
committed to doing here in the United States.
  And just today, or yesterday, out of the Education Committee, George 
Miller, who's the Chair of the committee, they passed an authorization, 
I think, of $6 billion, if I remember correctly, to help schools, new 
schools. There'll be a formula to make sure that the school is green. 
So now, you're providing some leadership for the companies that will 
provide the products for a school or a building to become green. 
There'll be a little bit of a stimulation.
  And I want to tell one quick story that I found interesting. We have 
a gentleman here in Congress, his name is Jim Oberstar, and he's the 
Chair of the Transportation Committee. He's been here since the late 
1970s.
  And I may miss a few of the facts here, but the point can be made 
that in the late 1970s, when he was a Member of Congress, and President 
Carter was in, he was trying to--the solar panel, there was some money 
put into the Department of Energy to research and develop alternative 
energy sources. And something popped out of that, it was called the 
solar panel.
  And Mr. Oberstar had a piece of legislation that said we need to 
retrofit all Federal office buildings in the United States with solar 
panels. And by the Federal Government coming in and buying the solar 
panels, it will stimulate the solar panel market because the Federal 
Government is such a big consumer, and just like buying pens and 
everything else, and it will drive the cost down of the solar panels. 
So that was in 1977, 1978.
  In 1980, when President Reagan came in, he completely eliminated that 
part of the Department of Energy that was providing that research and, 
basically, nothing happened. And he has now went from a rank and file 
member; Mr. Oberstar is now the Chair of the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee. So he now has this bill that he reintroduced, 
told his staff to go back and get his notes from 30 years ago about 
what he wanted to do with solar panels.
  Now, can you imagine how far behind the 8-ball we are? When you look 
at production of solar panels, it used to be an industry that the 
United States excelled in and that we had a great share of the solar 
panel market in the early 1990s. But now, we have been surpassed 
because we have not made the investments.
  And I'm not here, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Meek, to say that government 
somehow has all the answers. But we do have a role to play in 
stimulating the economy, Mr. Meek. And when we do that, we will allow 
the private sector to come in.
  So we need to do what we need to do with alternative energy research. 
We need to do what we need to do with high speed rail. We need to do 
what we need to do with broadband access. These are the things that 
government has a role in, infrastructure, education, health care. These 
are the things that we need to invest in. And that's what we've been 
trying to do in the area of health care.
  One of the things that, I mean, you can't really find a better 
example or illustration of a difference in values from Speaker Pelosi 
and President Bush on this one issue. It's the issue of state, the 
State Children's Health Insurance Program. When we came in, one of 
Speaker Pelosi's priorities was to provide leadership and resources for 
the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
  This is a program that would provide health care, Mr. Meek, for 10 
million children of modest income, didn't quite qualify for Medicaid, 
middle class kids, middle class families struggling to provide health 
care. This was to fill that gap. Bipartisan support here in the House, 
and in the Senate, tremendous support.
  So it passed the House, passed the Senate, President Bush vetoed it. 
Now, can you imagine where your priorities are when you're willing to 
spend $12 billion a month in Iraq, and you won't sign a children's 
health care bill to provide health care for middle class citizens at 
$35 billion over 5 years?
  But you'll spend 12 billion a month in Iraq and not even ask a 
question as to where the money's going. There's billions of dollars 
that are lost in Iraq, nobody knows where they are, Mr. Speaker. Nobody 
knows where that money is.
  And we struggle to find $35 billion to provide health care for modest 
income families. That investment that, at the end of the day, will 
probably save us billions of dollars because these kids won't go right 
to the emergency room. They'll have some preventative care. That will 
save us money in the long run. And the President vetoed it. And he 
vetoed it.
  And in the Senate, 80 Senators overrode the veto. But in the House, 
we could not override the veto because a handful of Republicans on the 
other side were committed to support the President in his position.
  Now, can you imagine that? In the wealthiest country in the world, 
the dominant super power, we can't scrape up $35 billion over 5 years 
to provide health care for middle class kids?
  And the President thinks he's taken a stand on this issue and saying 
he's fiscally responsible, after running up $3 trillion in debt, 
borrowing it from Japan and China and OPEC countries?
  When you're deciding on where your philosophies are, what your values 
are, this is the issue. This is the defining issue. Health care for 
kids, $12 billion a month in Iraq. Tax cuts for people who make 
billions of dollars a year, health care for kids?
  This is clear. And our job, as representatives of the people, Mr. 
Meek, and I'll kick it to you here in a second, is to make sure that we 
bring some equity into this system.
  And I will say this. The investments that we have made, or tried to 
make on SCHIP, the minimum wage, alternative energy, the fact that we 
did pass, and the President did sign a $1,000 increase in Pell Grants 
over 5 years, for students, and we cut the student loan interest rate 
in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent. So if you are going out 
trying to borrow for your kids, your interest rate is cut in half.
  Those are the priorities that we push every day here on this House 
floor. Those are the priorities that are going to lead to an expansion 
of our economy.
  We only have 300 million people in this country, Mr. Meek. There's 
1.2 or 1.3 billion in China, 1.2 or 1.3 billion in India. We only have 
300 million. And the philosophy of our party is to make sure that we 
invest into those 300 million people, to make sure they're educated and 
they're healthy. And I feel like if we make sure our kids are educated 
and healthy, that most everything else will take care of itself.

                              {time}  1815

  That's where we are. That's the agenda we're pushing.
  Mr. Meek, I appreciate the fact that you're taking time away from 
your busy schedule and family to come down here, and I would like to 
yield to my very good friend from Florida.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, Mr. Ryan, I want to thank you for sharing 
not only thoughts about the Members, but also reminding them of the 
work that has been done and work that needs to be done here on this 
house floor.
  I can tell you, Mr. Ryan, that it's very frustrating at times to hear 
and see some of the finger pointing that goes on not only here under 
the Capitol dome, but here in Washington, D.C. The work that this 110th 
Congress has done overshadows the work of the 109th Congress as it 
relates to accomplishing things on behalf of the American people. And I 
am very concerned about the fact that Members seem to get a little 
amnesia on how we got to where we are now.
  Last week, I had a chart on the floor here. I don't know what 
happened to it. I'm not accusing anybody of anything. But I was driving 
the point home of the colleagues on the other side about gas

[[Page 7555]]

prices and writing the Speaker a letter saying, What are you going to 
do? You promised a year ago that you would do something about it. What 
are you going to do? What are the Democrats going to do? The Republican 
leadership wrote, We stand firm to be with you as it relates to doing 
something about energy prices or gas prices.
  And it's interesting because these are the individuals who, 
especially on the Republican side, were a part of supporting and 
standing up the 2001 plan and the meeting that took place in the White 
House with Mr. Cheney and a number of energy companies, which I think 
was one of the most profitable meetings for the oil industry because 
they have just hand-over-fist made money since that meeting. And even 
today I think it was projected or it was announced that it's another 
record-breaking quarter for oil companies while Americans pay through 
the nose and small businesses pay through the nose for fuel.
  I couldn't help but be on I-75 in Florida on my way back to Miami 
from St. Petersburg about 3 weeks ago and stopped at a Pilot gas 
station. And I was driving my uncle's truck, and the guy asked for my 
ID and credit card and all of those things. And I said, Goodness. I had 
to give my ID. I was paying with cash. I said, This is interesting. I 
am paying with cash and I have to show you my ID.
  He said, Well, sir, we have had an uptick in truckers in filling up 
and pulling out without paying. I said, Wow. That's interesting. I mean 
with all of the tags and identifying markers identifying the company or 
the private-owned companies. And he said, I can tell you something--of 
course, he saw me and didn't think that I was anything like a 
congressman or anything--but he said, Times are hard out there. I mean, 
these guys, they can't afford to fill up their truck and make a profit 
and be able to support their family. Not justifying it, but he said, 
The higher gas goes, the more protection that soon we're going to have 
to have someone out there getting tags or doing some sort of check to 
make sure that they actually put in the amount that they paid for.
  Saying all of that, that's the reason why, during the self-service 
days: Pay first, then pump.
  I'm saying all of that to make the point that times are hard out 
there. We know. Bread is $3 a loaf. We know this. The fact that rice, 
even if you go to Costco now you can't buy a 50-pound bag of rice. I 
mean, it's like being rationed, in a way. And just the price of food 
all over the world has really exploded.
  Saying all of that, Mr. Ryan, I think that when we start looking at 
our work here in Congress, now more than ever, Members, we have to hold 
first the American people and their will, we have to hold that as our 
number one priority.
  Now, let me just mention just a few things, Mr. Ryan, because I'm not 
going to try to get excited on this issue today because if I do, I may 
miss something. And I don't want to miss anything because the points 
have to be made.
  And I think it's important, Mr. Ryan, as we look at this, and 
Members, Mr. Speaker, that when we look at the work that has been done 
in this Congress this week, sending four key bills to the President for 
his signature, and we really don't have a lot of time to wait and see 
if he's going to do something because when you look at it, you have to 
look at the highway bill, the bill that allows competition for 
important highway and transit projects outlined in the 2005 highway 
bill which will help promote 40,000 new good-paying American jobs in 
transportation and construction. I think it's important that people 
understand that this bill will help stimulate the economy versus slow 
it down. It's important that the President signs this.
  When you look at the other pieces of legislation that have passed, 
these are bills that are key bills, ensuring continuing access to 
student loans, the Student Loan Act. This is a critical bill that 
provides students and families with continued uninterrupted access to 
Federal guaranteed student loans. We're talking about not only this 
generation but the next generation and working families being able to 
afford higher education.
  Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 2008. It comes down to many of our men 
and women that are in uniform over in Iraq and Afghanistan with 
explosions that take place and the fact that many of them are affected 
by the blasts that take place with these IEDs. They will join some 5.3 
million Americans that are affected here at home by the same thing. And 
the Congress has passed this to provide the kind of funding that's 
needed so they can get the treatment that they deserve. We look forward 
to the President signing it.
  But as we look at issues such as energy and fuel, I think it's 
important that we talk about some of the things, Mr. Ryan and Mr. 
Speaker, and I know you mentioned something about this whole gas thing 
because this is hitting home for many of us.
  The Speaker, last week, called on the President to suspend the 
purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve temporarily. When 
you look at this issue, you have to look at it from the standpoint of 
bringing gas down. What the Speaker has asked for would actually bring 
the gas prices down to 5 to 24 cents a gallon. This is a critical first 
step, Mr. Speaker, towards bringing gas prices down so the American 
people can hopefully afford to put gas in their tanks and small 
businesses.
  I met with some independent franchise owners of KFC and Taco Bell 
establishments, and they were talking about the cost of food and 
ingredients. One gentleman told us about the fact that his sales are 
down because American people cannot afford to go into, what you may 
call these restaurants where you can get a meal under $10, they can't 
afford to do it as often as they have done it before. Hopefully, the 
checks and the stimulus package will be able to assist. Not only we're 
not talking about going out and buying a meal but to be able to provide 
for their families will help stimulate this economy to help drive down 
the cost of food and the costs that many small businesses need to 
survive.
  Now, I think it's also important, Members, that we look at it from 
another standpoint, a standpoint of what farmers are having to look at.
  We had a hearing here on Capitol Hill today that talked about food 
versus fuel, and the price of food costs, how are we going to bring a 
balance between biofuels and how we're going to feed the American 
people in the world through our crops that are here. And that's going 
to be an interesting discussion, especially as we start looking at 
shifting from the Middle East and investing in Middle Eastern countries 
as it relates to energy versus the midwest. And we talked about that, 
Mr. Ryan and I talked about that a lot the previous two Congresses.
  But when we started looking at legislation and ideas that will give 
American people relief now, I think it's important that we look at the 
letter that the Speaker sent regarding the Strategic Oil Reserve that 
will bring the price of gas down 5 to 24 cents.
  I think it's also important to look at measures that we have passed 
here in Congress and that many of our friends on the other side of the 
aisle seem to be standing up in the middle, which we call the ``policy 
door,'' not allowing us to be able to send good pieces of legislation 
to the President without the President knowing that he has enough 
Republicans on this floor to withstand an override.
  Now, there were four bills, and I'm going to turn it back over to 
you, Mr. Ryan, which was an OPEC bill that we passed that was dealing 
with--well, a NOPEC bill was dealing with not allowing OPEC oil 
companies to be able to price gouge Americans, and it allowed the 
Justice Department to carry out even more enforcement efforts against 
these, what we call, cartels.
  Price gouging, also renewable energy and the Energy Security Act, a 
number of our Republican colleagues on the other side, as you can see 
this piece of paper here, voted ``no.'' And I think it's important, 
especially amongst the leadership, it's important that we no longer 
have that kind of activity going

[[Page 7556]]

on when the American people are looking for some relief and looking for 
some enforcement.
  Something is not right. Something is not clean in the milk. Something 
doesn't smell right when it comes down to why gas continues to go up 
and up and up.
  And it's amazing. There's an uproar about gas, and then it will go 
down for a minute, then it will be back up some 20 to 15 cents a gallon 
on top of what it used to cost.
  So I think, Mr. Speaker and Members, we need to pay very close 
attention to what is happening on this energy issue but also pay 
attention to what is getting done. And we're doing a lot here. We've 
seen a lot.
  We've sent a lot of good legislation to the President. We hope the 
President will sign the legislation versus vetoing to make a point that 
is pointless when it comes down to the forward progress of the American 
people.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. When you look at what the Speaker has been asking 
the President to do now for weeks, possibly months, to suspend filling 
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we have this reserve in the United 
States that a certain amount of barrels of oil go in a day. And this is 
to make sure that in case of a crisis, we have oil for national defense 
purposes and so forth. This is oil that's going in every day.
  The Speaker, based on the history and what the experts and the 
economists are telling us, is that if you divert that oil that's going 
in to the petroleum reserve and you allow that oil to be purchased on 
the market, that it will drive down the cost of oil.

                              {time}  1830

  And this will lead to a savings at the pump of about 25 cents per 
gallon because there will be an increase in the supply of oil in the 
market and it will drive the cost down.
  Now, we're not sitting here saying that this is the magic wand we're 
going to waive and everything's going to be fine. But what we are 
saying is, when you implement this and you take some of the pressure 
off, you can save almost $6 a barrel and 25 cents at the pump. So if 
you are a truck driver, Mr. Meek, 25 cents, when you're putting 20 or 
30 gallons in, adds up when you're spending your life driving. And 
throwing the kids in the back of the mini van or filling up the truck 
and going back and forth, this is a significant savings. And the 
Speaker has been pressing the President to make this move and put this 
oil back into the market, Mr. Meek, but hasn't had any success at all.
  I yield to my friend.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Ryan, I agree with everything you just said, 
outside of throwing the kids in the back of the mini van; us parents, 
we don't do that.
  But let me just say real quickly that we look at common sense and we 
look at the needs of the American people. They want to know what's 
happening. Every time they look at that gas price board that's in front 
of the gas station they're thinking about, who's running the 
government? They're thinking about, who's overseeing this? Who's in a 
magic room somewhere pushing up these gas prices? And I think it's 
important that we understand that it's bigger than a debate, that this 
is really dealing with folks having to park their car. This is dealing 
with folks who are going through some real hard times. And we have to 
make sure that we stand up for them.
  Now, the President may wait a little while and say, well, I'm not 
going to do what the Speaker asked to do, suspending filling the 
Strategic Reserve, I'm not going to do it. Maybe he may do it now, I 
don't know. The first quarter report has come out on the oil revenues. 
Maybe that may happen, I don't know. I'm not saying that that's the 
motivation, I'm just saying that the American people need some relief 
and they need it now. And hopefully they will be able to get it sooner 
than later because we're having folks, from rising food costs, rising 
energy costs, finding themselves in a situation where they can't even 
afford to drive to work or to get their children to school.
  Also, Mr. Ryan, as I spoke before about our friends on the other side 
of the aisle, our Republican leadership, we definitely want them to 
work with us as it relates to driving these energy costs down and then 
going after the individuals that may have something to do with jacking 
up the price on the American people. Last week, I talked about the fact 
that a gallon of gas in Iraq costs, I believe it was between $1.30 and 
$1.55. Here in the United States, it costs a lot more. And we all know 
what those costs are, people are reminded every day when they have to 
go to the pump. I have constituents that are putting something on it 
every day. When I say ``putting something on it,'' they can't afford to 
fill their whole tank up. They're putting in $5, $6, whatever the case 
may be, and just getting less than a gallon and a half of gas because 
that's all they can afford. And especially for those individuals that 
have stepped over their budget, taking the credit card out, filling it 
up with a credit card. That soon adds up because it's not within their 
budget to pay the $24 or the $50 they have to pay on these credit 
cards.
  But I go back to say that fuel in Iraq is a lot cheaper than it is 
here in the United States. And the U.S. military is spending in the 
neighborhood of $3 and change in filling a gallon of gas in the same 
country. So when we start looking out how we're helping Iraq and how 
Iraq is assisting and appreciating our help, we also have to look at 
the difference and the disparity in the cost of gas between what our 
troops and civilian personnel have to pay for a gallon of gas there and 
what everyday Iraqis pay.
  So when we look at it from the big picture, Mr. Ryan, we have to look 
at it from the executive branch level. And I think it's important that 
the President looks at all of this and takes it all into consideration. 
But we do need some action.
  We talk about a commonsense approach--I said it earlier, I'll say it 
again--on the No Oil Producing and Exploiting Cartels Act, I think it's 
important that we see the passage of H.R. 2264 that has passed this 
House. And the Republican leadership has voted against. When you look 
at the Energy Price Gouging Act, you have to look at it for what it's 
worth. And this legislation will reduce the burden of rising gas prices 
on American families by providing immediate relief to consumers by 
giving the Federal Trade Commission authority to investigate and punish 
those who artificially inflate gas prices. I mean, I want that, I want 
it bad to be honest with you, because I think it's important that if we 
have these commissions and we have those enforcement agencies, give 
them what they need.
  Right now, as far as I'm concerned, the Federal Trade Commission is 
like a police officer in a high-crime area without a weapon. And I can 
tell you, there will be no real enforcement there if they don't have 
the tools that they need to be able to enforce the law when it comes 
down to it.
  Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 2008, H.R. 5351, very 
important piece of legislation. The bill has ended unnecessary 
subsidies to oil companies in which we're investing in clean and 
renewable energy. And I think it's important that Americans understand, 
and also, Mr. Ryan, that every Member of Congress understand, that none 
of the legislation that I've mentioned thus far would have seen the 
light of day if it wasn't for the 110th Congress and it wasn't for 
Democrats allowing it to come to the floor.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Absolutely. And I think you've made some great 
points, Mr. Meek.
  I just would like to say that, if you listen to some of our friends 
on the other side talk about gas prices, here is a party, Mr. Speaker, 
and an administration for 6 years--and the President and the Vice 
President being oil men--not doing a thing on energy, dependence on 
foreign oil, so on and so forth, to somehow accuse the Democrats of not 
addressing the issue, and completely oblivious to the fact that we're 
the ones passing legislation to crack down on price gouging, Mr. Meek. 
We're the ones that are passing legislation to hold OPEC accountable 
for price fixing. It's the Democratic Party

[[Page 7557]]

that's repealing the subsidies to Big Oil so that we can take that 
money and invest it into alternative energy sources. It's Speaker 
Pelosi that's calling on the President to take the barrels of oil that 
are going into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and put those in the 
market to drive down gas by a quarter, that's something easy we can do. 
But it is the President and the Republican Congress, Mr. Speaker, that 
have consistently vetoed these bills or put the kibosh on them in the 
Senate, blocking lower prices every step of the way.
  And if you look at what we have done here, pushed by the Speaker, to 
have fuel efficiency standards being raised for cars and trucks, we 
will reduce oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels per day in 2020. 
This is forward-looking. This is something that will save consumers 
between $700 and $1,000 at the pump in 2020. Now, we know that's not 
addressing the issues today. We're talking about the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve. We're talking about cracking down on OPEC. We're 
talking about cracking down on price gouging that may be going on in 
the United States and our local communities. These are the short-term 
issues. And each one has been opposed by the Republicans and has been 
opposed by the President of the United States.
  So when you ask the folks at home, Mr. Speaker, what the Congress has 
done, the answers are here. And if anybody wants to know what they are, 
they can go to the Speaker's Web site. Trying to stop price gouging at 
the pump, price manipulation from OPEC, divert the oil that's going 
into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, that's what we're trying to do 
here. Repeal the subsidies for Big Oil and put that money and invest it 
in alternative research. Mr. Speaker, these are the policies of the 
Democratic Congress. And each one of those has been opposed by the 
Republican Party and opposed by the President of the United States, 
period, dot, Mr. Meek; period, dot.
  So let there be no mistake, when common sense tells you we have a 
couple of oil barons running the executive branch, Mr. Speaker, and the 
Democrats are trying to push these initiatives to provide some relief 
for the common good and the common folks that we represent and it's 
opposed by the Republicans and opposed by this administration, it's 
important for us to set this record straight, Mr. Meek.
  So as we begin to wrap up here, Mr. Meek, I would like to yield to 
you.
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Well, Mr. Ryan, I look forward to next week. I 
look forward to the hearings that will take place under the Dome. 
Again, democracy will reign. We will be able to continue to move in 
this new direction that the American people want us to move in.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. What's wrong with that?
  Mr. MEEK of Florida. Nothing wrong with that at all.
  And I also believe, Mr. Ryan, that through the hard work of not only 
the staff here that provide us with not only the information that we 
use to fight on behalf of the American people, but also when we go back 
to our districts, what we hear from our constituents, we give them 
voice, we are them. We are representatives of the various parts of the 
country that we're from, and it's important that we bring that level of 
frustration here.
  Speaking of small business men and women, they own a pick-up truck or 
an SUV, we hear from them, Congressman, it cost me $105 to fill my 
truck up. And they're still trying to sell their products for the same 
price, just a little bit more. Everything is going up, up, up, and 
they're getting priced out. And I think it's important, even from my 
neck of the woods in Florida, where you have bagel shops, some of them 
have gone so high up on bagels because of the cost and folks can't 
afford them.
  So when you look at it, this is a major, major issue and every 
American is being touched by it, especially for those middle class 
families and for those individuals that are what we call our working 
poor. And so, Mr. Ryan, every day we come to the floor I think it's 
important we give light to that.
  I also want to give the numbers on Iraq, as I always do. As of today, 
May 1, in Iraq, the total deaths are 4,064. The total number wounded in 
action and returned to duty, 16,567. And total number wounded in action 
not returning to duty is 13,344. Mr. Ryan, you know, every time I come 
to the floor I like to read that into the Record so that Members will 
understand our responsibility of trying to bring the super majority of 
our men and women home.
  One last point, Mr. Ryan. I think that when we look at this issue 
called public service, and I'm speaking to all of the Members, we have 
to look at it from the standpoint that we're only here for a short 
period of time. Less than 11,000 Americans have actually had an 
opportunity to serve in this U.S. Congress. And every day Members 
should take the responsibility to treat it as though it is their last 
day to serve and not put something off for another day or another week 
or another month, because there are people out there that are counting 
on us and depending on us, as it relates to bringing about health care 
to their children, bringing down these fuel costs and energy costs, and 
also making sure that we're able to stimulate this economy in the right 
way.
  So with that, I would yield back to Mr. Ryan.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Well, I appreciate that. And you brought up those 
who are serving here. And I think it's worth noting that the veterans 
measure, another initiative that the Democrats have tried to push for a 
new G.I. Bill, for free college for our vets, opposed by Defense 
Secretary Gates, opposed by the administration. This is an opportunity 
for us to thank those men and women who are serving our country to say, 
when you get out, you're going to have free college tuition anywhere in 
the country. And I think that's a small gesture.

                              {time}  1845

  And once again, I think the President and our friends on the other 
side are out of step with what the American people think we should be 
doing. It's one thing to wave the flag, and it's another thing to put 
your money where your mouth is.
  So, Mr. Meek, I want to thank you for the opportunity to join you 
here on this beautiful Thursday evening in Washington, D.C., and I look 
forward to coming down here with you next week and continuing to make 
the case for the programs that Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer 
and Mr. Clyburn and Rahm Emanuel and John Larson are pushing in our 
caucus. These are the issues that we care about and we're going to 
continue to push.

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