|
|
 | add to del.icio.us | |
| digg this | |
 print | |
 email |
| |
Floor Statement: Gas Prices, Energy Policy & National Security
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I want to begin my remarks this morning by quoting the distinguished junior Senator from Illinois, Senator Obama, who said recently, our dependence on foreign oil strains family budgets, and it saps our economy. Oil money pays for the bombs that go off from Baghdad to Beirut and the bombast of dictators from Caracas to Tehran. He said, our nation will not be secure unless we take that leverage away and our planet will not be safe unless we move decisively toward a clean energy future. I'd like to say to those comments from Senator Obama, amen. He's exactly right. And so I would ask him, why does he and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to oppose domestic energy production that would reduce our dependency on oil from the Middle East?
As this chart shows, restricted domestic production here in the United States sends billions of dollars to the Middle East where we purchase that oil and to countries like Venezuela here in South America. When one of my constituents back in Texas goes to the gas station and fills up their pickup truck and it costs them $75 to $100, he's wondering perhaps where the money goes. Now, our colleagues here would suggest that it just goes to big oil companies, but the fact of the matter, it's more complicated than that. And I think the picture needs to be painted, the story needs to be told exactly what our refusal to depend more on our domestic resources and depending, as we do increasingly, on foreign sources of oil, what that does to our national security.
While taxes, refining and shipping and market add to the cost of retail gasoline, 70% of the cost of a gallon of gasoline is related to the cost of oil, crude oil. And when the United States imports roughly 60% of the oil that it consumes, then the real profiteers of our dependence are foreign nations from which we import. In 2007, the U.S. fuel bill on oil imports was about $330 billion, and some anticipate that figure will go to $400 billion this year. We should be investing more money here in America to increase our domestic energy production, create jobs right here in America, as we work to diversify our energy mix and pursue alternative energy so sources.
Unfortunately, we send American dollars to foreign nations and energy cartels like Venezuela and Iran, nations that openly condemn the United States and the principles for which we stand and seek to undermine our national interests at every turn. Last year in Venezuela alone, US consumers spent an estimated $30 billion on oil imports. We're all familiar with President Hugo Chavez and his thinly veiled threats and outlandish attacks on our country. But the money that is sent to Venezuela does not just empower the absurd talk of one man; it's helping him create a substantial military arsenal. These pictures will show some of the things that Hugo Chavez is doing with the money that we're sending to him as we buy crude oil. Fighter aircraft, submarines, Kalashnikov assault rifles, air defense batteries. As a matter of fact, Russia has agreed to actually create a factory in Venezuela for the production of both AK-103 assault rifles and 7.62 millimeter ammunition that costs in excess of $500 million dollars.
In 2006 alone, Venezuela entered into multiple agreements with Russia to purchase numerous advanced Russian-made systems. These include, as I've depicted here, these 24 modern fighter-bomber aircraft at a price of more understand that $1 billion, numerous attack and transport helicopters at the price of $700 million, and an arsenal of these modern Kalashnikov assault rifles which we showed here a moment ago. Last week Venezuela conducted a preliminary agreement for its Navy to buy three Russian-made Kilo patrol submarines depicted here. This year Venezuela accepted delivery of the first of several batteries of Russian made Tor M1 air defense systems depicted in this chart. In 2005 Venezuela ordered nine Cchinese-made mobile air radar systems valued at $150 million and earlier this year the Venezuelan government ordered six Austrian-made multipurpose surveillance aircraft.
But we should not delude ourselves into thinking that money only goes to the buildup of the Venezuelan military. Colombia, of course, right next door to Venezuela in South America - our strongest US ally in Latin America, tells us that Hugo Chavez has been supporting the FARC, a terrorist organization, a narco-terrorist organization, and enabling attacks on the people of Colombia. In fact, a laptop recently captured from a terrorist leader demonstrates Hugo Chavez's close ties with the FARC. The situation has prompted some in Congress to call for Venezuela to be put on our designated state sponsors of terrorism list. Clearly, the actions of Hugo Chavez and his accelerated militarization of Venezuela pose a significant threat to the stability of Latin America and to the United States because of its close proximity to our country.
Well, it doesn't just stop there. As we know, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran is enjoying all the money that America is sending to him and other countries when they purchase oil, now running in the $135-a-barrel price tag. We can't afford to forget that oil is a global commodity used by every country throughout the world, so that money spent on oil imports from the Middle East or anywhere benefit Iran. Iran is continuing its efforts to develop nuclear technology, depicted at these compounds in Bushehr and in Natanz, depicted on these maps. It is clear that Iran has ambitions to build nuclear weapons to dominate the Middle East and, frankly, represent a threat to world peace. So money spent on oil imports from the Middle East or anywhere actually benefits Iran, and they use that money to build -- to pursue their nuclear ambitions. Iran is continuing its efforts to develop nuclear technology with an obvious goal of producing nuclear weapons. The last thing we need to do is provide a steady extreme of money to a man who openly pledges to wipe Israel off the map. And promises that the United States, along with Israel, will -- quote -- "soon be destroyed."
Aside from Iran's very troubling nuclear ambitions, US military commanders have seen clear involvement of Iran in Iraq. We've heard from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker about Iran's attempts to destablize Iraq. We've heard reports of the Iranians training militias and special groups in Iraq both of whom have been a major source of violence and instability there. Even more concerning, we've seen reports that Iran has been providing advanced improvised explosive devices called explosively formed penetrators that have been and continue to be used to kill and injure American soldiers in Iraq. As I said Iran has been linked to explosively formed penetrators used to kill American troops, and while these penetrators that make up only a small percentage of the overall number of IED's in Iraq, they generate a disproportionate share of American casualities.
The short side of the story is that our dependence on foreign oil is bankrolling deadly weapons. The money we continue to send to the Middle East and to Venezuela does nothing but enrich our enemies. Why in the world then would we deny ourselves access to the natural resources that allow us to become less dependent? Well, while the Congress may not get it, it's clear that the American people get it. Rassumssen has just come out of the field with a new poll which says that 67% of the respondents support offshore drilling in America. And 64% expect that it will lower gasoline prices. That's two-thirds of the respondents believe that offshore drilling should be allowed, and Congress, of course, is the major impediment passing a moratoria against production of oil from the outer continental shelf since the early 1980's.
So Congress is the problem and Congress needs to get out of way and allow America to do what it does best. That is, to maintain or at least try to achieve our less dependence on imported oil from our enemies. Well, the short version of this story is that our dependence on foreign oil is bankrolling deadly weapons being used against our troops. And even more advanced weapon systems that could one day be turned on us or our allies, countries like Columbia. Soaring gas prices are not just a problem for the American consume but they are a problem for the American soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine. And they are a problem for our national security. The longer we sit idle and do nothing to increase our domestic energy production the more money we ship overseas and the more likely it is to empower the threatening actions of some of America's staunchest enemies.
While Congress agrees about the respose of reducing our nation's dependence on foreign sources of oil -- indeed, that is what Senator Obama said in the quotation I read -- Congress has not yet acted in a way consistent with the express concerns or a way to improve not only our economic security but our national security, as well. I appreciate the determination of Congress to pursue and encourage alternative energy sources, increased energy efficiency and these energy policies will serve us well into the future. But what we must realize is that oil and gas is the bridge to that future and it's not economically responsible to bypass solutions that increase energy supply and help bring down the price of gas at the pump. Americans have spent an additional $1,400 on energy costs just this last year and the Department of Defense, perhaps the largest consumer of oil and gas in the country, spent $12.6 billion on fuel just last year.
We can't afford to keep filling the coffers of hostile oil-rich nations like Iran and Venezuela while we wait for alternative fuels to become a substantial and reliable source of our energy needs. We need a comprehensive and balanced energy policy that includes increased American energy production. We've raised fuel efficiency standards, we've implemented a renewable fuel standard, we supported tax incentives for wind, solar, biomass, and energy efficiency appliances. Now we need to grow our domestic energy production by tapping into America's proven oil and gas reserves. We can begin to produce more energy at home and we can begin to ease our minds about how rogue states like Venezuela and Iran will be using those dollars to threaten us.
We've also said on numerous occasions that energy security is national security. But I fear that many of us have failed to realize exactly what that means. We need to recognize our inaction is not only raising the burden on American families but growing armies and weapons that one day could be used against us and in the case of Iran that money is already being used against our troops in Iraq through the explosively formed penetrators that have injured and literally killed American citizens. We all need to work together to expand American oil production in order to decrease the profits of sworn enemies of the United States and limit their militarization.
|
