[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE HIGH COST OF THE AMERICAN ENERGY POLICY

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, as the price of crude oil again moves past 
$100 a barrel, it is another reminder of the high cost of our energy 
policy that increases our dependence on foreign countries, kills jobs, 
and raises energy costs. Every time the Federal Government imposes a 
moratorium or new regulations, as it did on drilling in the gulf and 
now the Keystone pipeline, it hurts the American people.
  Despite 60 years of a spotless safety record, excellent State 
regulation and monitoring, approval for safety by the EPA and creation 
of inexpensive energy sources, hydrofracking for oil and natural gas is 
under attack by the Department of the Interior.
  What is the expected outcome?
  Look at what the administration has done to coal, offshore drilling 
and the Keystone pipeline, not to mention the fact that we have not 
built a nuclear energy plant or a new refinery for decades due to over-
regulation.
  Hydrofracking of oil and natural gas will inevitably be pushed into 
red tape, higher cost of production and lower yield, again, hurting 
America through high energy costs and fewer jobs.

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