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Floor Statement: Democratic Delays On Energy Policy

Democratic Delays On Energy Policy - Wednesday, July 16, 2008 View video | Can't view the video?

Mr. President, I want to talk as well about high gasoline prices. I agree with my colleagues that this is the number one issue of the day when it comes to domestic policy. Frankly, as we talk about the housing crisis, the subprime mortgage crisis, hopefully our economy will work this -- through this difficulty with the collective efforts of the White House and Congress. But, frankly, I'm worried the most that unless Congress acts to lift the moratorium on the outer continental shelf and the oil shale and other sources of oil here at home, that it will be high gasoline and high energy prices that will plunge our nation into a recession. As bad as people feel the economy is going right now, I believe it can only get worse unless Congress acts responsibly to deal with the causes of high gas prices. And it is within our grasp to have a positive impact and bring down the price of gasoline at the pump.

Now, I think it's important for the American people to understand that the consequences of the last election in 2006 mean that the Democrats, our friends on the other side of the aisle, are in charge. And, as the Senator from Tennessee mentioned, it's Senator Reid, the Senator from Nevada, the Majority Leader, who controls floor time. We can't bring things up on the floor of the United States Senate unless he says it's ok. And what we're doing here today is imploring him to get to work to allow us to get to work on the nation's business when it comes to bringing down the price of gas at the pump.

Now, there is some good news. We actually did finally after 145 days of going dark, listening to foreign terrorists, because we hadn't reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Survelliance Act, finally we were able to get a bipartisan compromise and pass that legislation after 145 days of delay. But, here again, this is where the majority party, the Democrats, controlled the agenda, and, frankly, we're seeing unnecessary delays which is causing harm not only to our intelligence gathering, but also here, 603 days since the Colombia Free Trade Agreement has been stalled. This is an example where my state sells $2.3 billion of produce  from our farmers and manufactured goods to Colombia. They bear a tariff which would be removed if the Colombia Free Trade Agreement were to go through. Which would create additional markets and help create jobs and improve the economy and not only in Texas, but across the country. If we could persuade Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid to allow this to go through, we could see a boost in our economy as a result of that free trade. Then, of course, there's the matter of judicial nominees that have been blocked because of the unwillingness of the Majority Leader to allow them to have a vote on the Senate floor, 748 days.

But I'm really here to talk about this last figure, and that's 814. It has been 814 days since Speaker Pelosi said in anticipation of the 2006 election, she said, if Democrats get elected, and if I become Speaker, we're going to have a commonsense plan to bring down the price of gasoline at the pump. Well, that was when gasoline prices were $2.33 a gallon. I mean, we thought gas prices were high then. But what are they today in they're an average of $4.11 a gallon. And we're still waiting for that plan. So we're here to ask in the most respectful way that we know how for the Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate who controls the floor of the Senate to bring a bill to the floor which will allow us to deal with this national economic crisis. And to provide some relief to the hard-working families in Texas and across the nation who need some help. Because we know that high-energy prices not only impact the quality of life and the economic welfare of hard-working people in my state and across the country. It has a ripple effect on the price of food and other commodities which are driving up inflation and which are threatening our economy. So we need some action.

I was somewhat amused to hear the distinguished Senator from New Jersey, Senator Menendez, to come to the floor yesterday. He talked about the need to act more and talk less. Act more and talk less. I agree with the slogan. But I wish the Majority Leader and our friends on the other side of the aisle, who are in control of the agenda of the Senate, would take their own advice. Act more, talk less. We know what's necessary in order to deal with the energy crisis in this country. But here's what we encountered, nothing but obstruction.

The Senator from New Mexico, Senator Domenici is our leader on energy issues, ranking member, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy. But he's been an unparalleled advocate of expansion of nuclear power to generate electricity in this country. But  what happens when we ask our friends on the other side of the aisle to work with us to try to expand the availablity of cheap electricity through nuclear power in a safe way? It's blocked. What are we told when our 300-year supply of coal that we have here in this country that we want to invest money in clean coal technology and to use that energy in a way that protects the environment, but generates electricity that could be used by the American people. We're told, no, you can't do that either by the majority party. When it comes to offshore exploration, taking advantage of the resources that America's been blessed with, we're told, no, you can't do that either.

Even though it is within the power of the United States Congress to lift the ban, which was imposed by the United States Congress, which would allow us to explore and produce oil from the submerged lands around our shoreline. The President lifted the executive ban a couple of days ago, so the only barrier to production of more of America's natural resources here at home in the submerged lands on our coastline is the United States Congress. And our friends on the other side of the aisle are in charge. We're imploring them to work with us to produce more American energy.

Oil shale, we've heard a lot about out in Colorado and Utah and Wyoming. About two million additional barrels of oil a day, we're told, could be produced from the oil shale. But we're told, no, you can't do that. And that's Congress that has imposed that ban last year on developing the oil shale which could relieve some of that pain at the pump. And then, of course, we know ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is an example of when Congress actually passed legislation which would allow exploration of oil in ANWR, President Clinton vetoed it 10 years ago. If he hadn't vetoed it, we would have 11 billion barrels more online which would help to bring down the price.

So the new energy policy of our friends on the other side of the aisle seems to be a no-energy policy. It's not let's do this instead of that. It's no new energy. And now we're told that the Majority Leader wants to bring a bill to the floor to focus on speculation in the commodities market. We favor an examination of the commodities futures market. And more transparency and more cops on the beat in order to make sure that the American people are well served by the commodities futures market. But it's not the only problem we need to deal with. We need to deal with the law of supply and demand, which amazingly Congress is under the mis-impression that it can suspend the law of supply and demand.

We know, because we've been told by the world's experts that we are in competition with growing economies like China and India, more than a billion each who are buying cars and using more energy because they want the prosperity this comes with energy use. China is growing at a rate of 10% a year of its GDP. It's building two new coal-powered plants a week in that country. We know we're in a global competition. You would think that common sense would tell us from a national security standpoint and from a standpoint of bolstering our economy here at home and producing additional supply which would give us some temporary relief as we transit that bring that Senator Domenici talks about for a clean energy future.

We know in the long run we're going to have to get off an oil-based energy dependency. Because frankly, there is not enough for us to performly continue where we are now. That's why alternative sources of energy are important. That's why it's important that we conserve, as Senator Alexander said, find more, use less. I was in Tyler, Texas, last week at Brookshire Groceries - it is a grocery chain there. They talked about how they retrofitted their tractor-trailer rigs to try to find ways to conserve and use less diesel. They also found if they drove their trucks at 62 miles per hour, that they could maximize the range that they could travel, the distance they could travel and minimize consumption of diesel. And if I'm not mistaken, I think that they were able to save roughly 20% of their diesel consumption basically to do the same thing by simply finding ways to conserve.

So we support the concept of using less. But we need to find more at the same time. And it just makes sense that we produce more here in America. It will create jobs at a time when our economy is flying into a headwind right here in America all across the country and it will bring some relief to consumers at the pump. We we know that 70% of the price of gasoline is directly tied to the price of oil. We need to act more and talk less. I agree, but it's up to the Majority Leader to allow us to act by bringing an energy bill to the floor.