[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TIME FOR AN OIL CHANGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, Friday, President Bush will visit 
Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah and other key Saudi leaders. 
According to the White House, the President's visit will commemorate 
the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of U.S.-Saudi 
relations.
  Of course the underlying reason for the trip to Riyadh is to beg the 
Saudis to produce more oil. Faced with $4 a gallon gasoline--it was 
$3.99 this week in Ohio, and already exceeding over $4 in many parts of 
our country--a prospect which the President recently questioned would 
even happen, now the President is reduced to begging the Saudis, who 
literally have us over a barrel.
  Record-high gasoline prices are hurting American families, American 
truckers and American businesses. The average price of gasoline has 
more than doubled since this President was placed in office. Fuel costs 
now account for 10 percent of the average family's budget. It is 
especially hard for people who have to drive to work, such as people in 
rural areas. It's hard for farmers and truckers who have seen diesel 
prices spiral way out of control.
  And still we have no real leadership on a new energy policy from this 
White House, no policy for making our great Nation less dependent on 
undemocratic theocracies such as Saudi Arabia, and no policy to move 
away from the carbon-based economy and ease the pressure on our fragile 
planet. Under George W. Bush, America has gone backwards.
  Last year, the United States imported 1.45 million barrels of crude 
oil from Saudi Arabia every single day of the year. Can you imagine 
that? 530 million barrels in 1 year. In fact, since this President has 
taken office, we, as a country, are importing a billion more barrels a 
year, a billion more barrels a year. Less independent, more dependent.
  It just so happens America is the world's number one importer of 
crude and Saudi Arabia is the world's number one exporter. Fourteen 
percent of our Nation's oil addiction is supplied just by dealers in 
Saudi Arabia. That doesn't count Kuwait and all the surrounding 
countries, like Bahrain, et cetera.
  Last year, we imported $237 billion worth of crude oil, one-third of 
a trillion dollars. That's when the average price per barrel was $64. 
This year, that number will probably top $300 billion, and rising.
  For the first 3 months of this year, our crude oil imports totaled 
$76 billion, which is 63 percent above where it was a year ago. How 
much longer can this continue? I think the American people know how to 
answer that question: No more. They're saying no more.
  This week, we will see another episode of this pitiful drama of the 
vice-grip relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The 
House of Bush, represented by our President, will beg the House of 
Saud, represented by King Abdullah, to increase production as a short-
term fix for America's growing energy deficit.
  We ought to be bringing those dollars back here at home and have the 
same kind of commitment as we did when we landed a man on the Moon. We 
can do this as a country, we just need better leadership.
  At every step, this Democratic Congress has tried to make a 
difference. In the Price Gouging Prevention Act, the Renewable Energy 
Act, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Suspension Act, the Consumer 
Protection Act, and of course H.R. 6, to try to help launch energy 
independence for this country. But yesterday, our House passed a farm 
bill with a billion dollar title to bring in bioenergy as an important 
part of the solution for the future.
  As this lame duck Presidency fades, hopefully the next President of 
the United States will negotiate in earnest and help America develop an 
agenda for our own independence, not continued subservience to human 
rights violators and undemocratic nations like Saudi Arabia.
  This country is long overdue for a change, and it's definitely due 
for an oil change.

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