[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11973]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      DEMOCRATS TAKE ACTION ON RECORD HIGH GAS PRICES AT THE PUMP

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, as the price of gas continues 
to hit record highs almost every day, House Democrats continue to work 
on passing legislation that creates a cleaner and smarter energy policy 
that will provide consumers some real relief.
  This year, the House has passed nine bills, many of which the 
President has vetoed, that should help lower prices at the pump.
  Last month we passed a final farm bill that makes an historic 
investment in expanding biofuel production, largely from non-food crops 
such as cornstalks, wood chips and switchgrass. The bill also provides 
support to farmers growing energy crops and entrepreneurs building 
refineries to convert biomass into fuel. Without biofuels, gasoline 
prices would be about 50 cents higher per gallon than they are right 
now.
  The farm bill should be going to the President's desk any day now, 
but he plans to veto it. Fortunately, we should have enough bipartisan 
support to override that veto when the bill comes back to Congress.
  Madam Speaker, investing in biofuels is critical to our energy 
future. The farm bill is just one more example of how this Democratic 
Congress is working to lower prices at the pump.

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