[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      AMERICAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, just a couple of years 
ago, America was on a path to spending hundreds of billions of dollars 
more a year on energy imports to fulfill its energy needs--money that 
could otherwise be used to invest in our kids and to pay down our debt.
  Today, due to shale oil and natural gas activity, the U.S. is set to 
leapfrog Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's biggest producer 
of oil and gas and, by 2035, capable of providing all of its own 
energy. This activity also contributed over 1.7 million jobs in 2012 
and saved American families $100 per month in the form of lower energy 
bills.
  These amazing strides towards greater energy independence and a 
better standard of living for more Americans are due to energy 
development taking place not on Federal lands but on State and private 
lands, regulated not by the Federal Government but by our States.
  This week, the House acted on policies to keep us on this path to 
greater energy security--a future where America is less reliant on the 
rest of the world to fulfill its energy and power needs.

                          ____________________