[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  THE PURSUIT OF OIL: ITS ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY RAMIFICATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Madam Speaker, the other day, I went to fill up my car 
with gasoline, and the price tag was a little over $75. I gulped 
because, of course, it's always a shock, and it has been for the last 
several months every time I've filled up my car, and I know it has been 
for most persons.
  Most Americans, I'm sure, do not consider this to be just the price 
of doing business and having to go to work. ``Okay. No problem. I'll 
just do this and not complain.'' But, you know, I thought about it, and 
there are so many people to thank for this situation we're in that I'm 
paying $75 to fill up my car, and it's probably going to get worse by 
the way. We all recognize that. I was wondering who to thank for this 
situation, who to thank every single time I go into the gas station. 
Who is really responsible? Of course, I think, for every single 
American, every time they go in to get their gas and every time they 
look at that pump and have it say something startling back at them like 
$75 or more, of course, thank your local environmentalist first. Start 
off there because, of course, it has been years since we've had the 
kind of control that they've exercised over especially the Democratic 
Party. As a result of that control that they exercise and the power 
that they bring to bear, we have been unable to drill for oil in the 
United States, off of our coasts or in ANWR.
  So thank them first of all.
  Then, of course, you could also thank your Democrat Congressman or 
Senator, if you have one, because, for years now, they've been able to 
avoid either allowing us to drill for oil in the places where we have 
oil in this country or, in fact, in the last few months, they've been 
able to even block any sort of vote on it whatsoever for fear, of 
course, that they would have to explain such a vote to their 
constituents.
  So there are people who we can thank for $75 when you go and fill up 
your car at the gas station. I just hope every single time this happens 
to every single American and that, every time they go in and put the 
credit card in the reader and see that money deducted, they remember 
who to thank.
  Also, they should remember this: That it's not just this economic 
issue. It's not just what it's going to take out of their pocketbooks--
mine included--that is causing great pain and consternation. It's also 
the fact that this is a national security issue. It's not just an 
economic issue. People are going to have to recognize that we are in a 
situation, in an international situation, where we are funding our own 
opponents. The people who want to do us harm are being funded to the 
tune of billions of dollars a day, every single day, in order to 
accomplish their goal to eradicate the United States of America from 
the face of the Earth.
  Ten years ago, Osama bin Laden said a strange thing. Well, he says 
many strange things, but this was a particularly odd statement. He said 
that he wanted to see $144-a-barrel oil. Now, this was 10 years ago. Of 
course, oil was nowhere near this price, and everybody looked at that 
statement and thought it was peculiar to say the least, but he said 
that's what he believed it would have to be in order for the West to 
pay the price that he believed was deserving by all the Muslims in the 
world who have had their oil stolen from them over the years.
  The point is he used oil. He talked about oil as being a tactical 
part of the war against the West.
  Well, who would have thought we'd be right at that $140-a-barrel mark 
within the 10-year period of time that he projected? Who would have 
thought that that was possible?
  It also is an indication, as I say, of the fact that we are facing a 
much bigger problem than just the economic burden. It is imperative 
that we strip oil of its strategic value. Not only are billions of 
dollars flowing outside of the United States into countries that are 
enemies of the United States', but in fact, those dollars do come back 
to the United States often in terms of investments that are made by 
countries through things we call sovereign wealth funds. These are 
funds that are controlled by governments. There is $3 trillion, we 
believe, that is controlled by sovereign wealth funds that are 
primarily in the Middle East or in countries, again, that are opponents 
of the United States'. $3 trillion.
  With that money, a lot of things can happen. You could probably even 
affect, to a certain extent, the futures markets, but you could also, 
certainly, buy up a lot of stock in a lot of companies. Well, to a 
certain extent, that's good. That's healthy. I'm not going to argue 
with the fact that we're getting investment back out of some of those 
dollars, but some of those dollars go into companies that have very 
important information available to them that are part of the 
technological base we have in the United States that we rely upon to 
keep us one step ahead of the game. Although we try our best to make 
sure that significant technological advances in strategic areas are not 
available to countries outside the United States, when you own a lot of 
stock in those companies, believe me, you have access to a lot of 
information, and they are making use of it.
  So there are ramifications to this outflow of dollars in the pursuit 
of oil, and there are a lot of things we have to do. Yes, build wind 
towers. Absolutely. Any kind of alternative fuel you want to talk about 
and pursue is find with me, but when it comes down to it, we have to 
drill. All of those other things will not solve our problem and 
certainly not in the time frame that will allow us to breathe easier 
with the thought that the enemies of the United States' are not 
actually being enriched by our own need for their oil. We have it. It's 
abundant. There are trillions of barrels of oil just in the Colorado-
Wyoming plateau that are locked up in shale now, but there is 
technology available that will allow us to extract it.
  There are all kinds of things that we can do if only the government 
will get out of the way and allow it to be done. That is what is 
required. Let's do it as soon as possible.

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