[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4050-4051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         FORGING A PATH FORWARD

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, while House Republicans are squandering 
precious time and risking American jobs, the Senate will now move 
forward with a bill to repeal billions in subsidies to big oil 
companies.
  Last year, Big Oil raked in $137 billion in profits--more than ever 
before--but still received billions in taxpayer-funded giveaways. It 
does not make sense. Even with domestic oil production at its highest 
level in almost a decade, prices at the pump are rising. Oil companies 
are making money hand over fist.
  When the price of a gallon of gas goes up by a single penny, 
quarterly profits for the five major oil companies go up $200 million. 
I heard on the news this morning that the price of gas in the last 
couple weeks has gone up 12 cents. Well, that is more than $2 billion 
for the oil companies.
  This country continues to give taxpayer dollars to some of the most 
profitable corporations in the world--not some of the most profitable, 
the most profitable. They are doing better than Google and Microsoft 
and all of them.

[[Page 4051]]

They are the No. 1 profitable corporations in the world. It is time to 
end this careless corporate welfare.
  The only real way to bring down prices at the pump is to reduce U.S. 
dependence on foreign oil. That will take additional responsible 
domestic oil production and smart investments in clean energy 
technology.
  The Senate will vote this evening to advance the Repeal Big Oil Tax 
Subsidies Act. This legislation ends more than $2 billion a year in tax 
breaks for Big Oil, and it invests the savings in the clean energy 
industry, where it will grow our economy and create jobs.
  Repealing wasteful subsidies will not cause oil prices to go up. 
Repealing wasteful subsidies, I repeat, will not cause oil and gas 
prices to rise. But reducing America's dependence on foreign oil will 
cause prices to fall for sure. But if Republicans continue to follow in 
lockstep to the drums of oil companies making record profits, one thing 
will be obvious: Republicans care less about bringing down gas prices 
than about helping oil companies that do not need help. Congress should 
pass this legislation and do it quickly before another taxpayer dollar 
is spent on wasteful handouts to Big Oil.
  How do the American people feel about this? Of course, by an 
overwhelming margin, they agree with us.
  The Senate must also quickly move to reform our postal system, and in 
the coming weeks, we also must reauthorize the Violence Against Women 
Act, pass additional job-creation measures, and take up the crucial 
cybersecurity bill.
  The Pentagon says passing cybersecurity legislation is the single 
most important action Congress can take to improve national security. 
That is why I will bring a bill to the floor very soon. Bipartisan 
efforts to craft comprehensive cybersecurity legislation have been 
ongoing for years. It is now time to act. It is time for Republican 
colleagues who have been involved in this effort from the start to sit 
down and help us move this matter forward. We are going to move this 
bill onto the floor. We have had hard work done by Senator Lieberman 
and Senator Collins. It is a bipartisan bill. I would hope both parties 
would agree this legislation is a priority. I hope so.
  As always, Mr. President, I hope Democrats and Republicans will be 
able to work together to forge a path forward on these most important 
issues.

                          ____________________