Floor Statements

Let me just say that some Members of Congress do more work than others, and I want to congratulate you on taking the time and making the effort to get Members on record as to how they feel about drilling for oil and natural gas to get our energy prices down and get the price of gasoline at the pump down. You are to be congratulated. I watched you on television the other night, and I just wish you had more time to get into more of the details because what you say on the floor ought to be heard by people all across this country.

I took a 5-minute special order before this one, and I didn't get a chance to go into some of the issues in depth that the American people ought to know about because they hear so much on both sides of the aisle. On that side of the aisle they say, oh, my gosh, the oil companies have so many leases, they ought to drill on those leases, both on American soil and also on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The fact of the matter is there are an awful lot of leases already out there, given to the oil companies, but they are not going to drill in those areas unless they know there is oil there. And that's why there are seismic tests that take place. And those tests don't take place until they get the lease. And that lease is for 5 to 10 years. If they don't move on that lease within 5 to 10 years, then they have to give the lease up and it is re-bid, and somebody else might go for that lease.

But chances are they will do everything they can to find oil in that 5 or 10-year period because they don't want to lose a lease that has a lot of oil within it. So they do seismic tests to find out if there is oil there.

If they drill on a lease that is next to another lease, sometimes they do test drills, if it looks like it is a promising lease or leases around that area, they

are going to drill on all of them. When they drill for oil off the Outer Continental Shelf or on the Continental Shelf, it costs $2 billion, up to $2 billion to erect a platform and a derrick and the drilling process, to drill down and get that oil out of the ocean.

An oil company is not going to do that unless they think that there is oil down there. Why would you spend $2 billion unless you know there is oil there. That's why they get the leases and do the seismic testing. Once they do the seismic testing, if it looks like there is oil there, then they drill. They have to go through a very strenuous program of getting more and different kinds of leases so they can drill. But once they find there is oil on those leases that are already available, they will drill there because they want to get the oil, they want to make the money.

The problem we have is we are only using 3 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf. The other 97 percent we are not drilling on. That really is troubling because there may not be an awful lot of oil in that 3 percent where they have the permits right now. But the other 97 percent, we know there is oil out there.

I would like to give a couple of facts that I think my colleagues and the people of this country ought to know.

We use 21.5 million barrels of oil a day. ANWR, and I think my colleagues talked about this, is the size of Dulles Airport. You're not going to kill the environment of Alaska if you drill in the ANWR. Alaska's almost three times the size of Texas, and the size of the Dulles Airport is not much bigger than Capitol Hill here, and we could drill there in an environmentally safe way and get up to 1 to 2 million barrels of oil a day.

ANWR has 10.4 billion barrels of oil, more than double the proven reserves in Texas. And in April, the U.S. Geological Survey announced there was estimated, now get this, 3.65 billion barrels of oil and 1.85 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in Montana and North Dakota.

On our coast lines there's 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 29.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And you can go on and on and on and on. We have the gas. We have the oil necessary to become energy independent. We can get it in an environmentally safe way. And as my colleague from Georgia has said time and time again, we need to go after it.

We shouldn't be giving our money to the Saudis. They're not our best buddies. They're supporting these madrassas that teach Wahabiism, which is a radical form of Islam, all over the world. And they're using our money that they get from us buying the oil over there, and we can get this energy right here in America. And we can also, as my colleague has said, bring the price of gasoline down. And that's what I think Americans want all over this country.

The problem is, they may be confused because this young lady that was just down here, a new Member, she came down and started quoting all these statistics like there's this many leases and that many leases and why aren't they drilling there because they can drill.

You're not going to drill unless a seismic test shows there's oil and you do a test well in the ocean. You're not going to drill on land unless there's a study that shows that there's oil down there. We know that there's oil in the ANWR and so we ought to drill there.

All I can say to my colleague and to anybody that's paying attention across this country is that we need to get all of the Congressmen on board. My colleague's working his tail off to get it done. We need to get everybody on board so we can drill for oil and natural gas in this country, get the price of energy down, get the price of gas at the pump down to way below where it is now. And we can do it, but what we have to do is get every Congressman in this body on board and in supporting drilling in America. We can do it.

And the American people have done it in the past. They've written letters in when we tried to hold, when we tried to tax the interest on their savings in the banks, they sent us cards that looked like snow coming down in this place. And we ended up reversing ourselves and saying we weren't going to tax or collect taxes at the bank when they got interest on their savings. They didn't like that.

So if the American people, and I say this to my colleague from Georgia, if the American people want us to drill in America they need to contact their Congressman and say get on with it. Quit messing around. Drill for oil here. We want to be energy independent. We've been talking about it for over 30 years. It's time to act.

With that, I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

Let me just say to the gentleman from Georgia, he mentioned that we haven't built any new oil refineries since the late 1970s, and he's correct. But there's one other thing that he didn't mention. I know he knows this.

In 1981 we had 324 oil refineries. Today we have 148, less than half. There's no way that we can handle the oil that we could get out of the ground to lower the price of gasoline unless we build new refineries. And we've come up with an idea to put it on some of these closed military bases around the country, and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have not seen fit to agree to that.

Yes.

Along those lines, they say, well, it's going to take 10 years if we start drilling. It's going to take 10 years if we start refining it. I don't think that's the case. Most people think in 2 or 3 years we could really be pumping a lot of new oil out of the ground if we were allowed to drill for it, and we could refine it and get it in the gas tanks of the people across this country.

But even if it did take 10 years, when do we start? We were talking about this back during the Carter years in the late seventies. That's 30 years ago. And we haven't done a darn thing about it.

If we're going to keep the cost of energy down, with the demand for energy growing at a very rapid rate around the world, China wants more, everybody wants more oil to expand their economies, building new roads and everything else. There's a war going on right now for the oil that's available, the energy that's available in this world. If we're going to be able to keep pace, which will help us economically, and, in fact, maybe save us economically, we're going to have to drill in America for oil and gas. We're going to have to get on with the program.

I can't talk to the American people, but if I were talking to the American people, like my colleague from Georgia would like to do, I'd tell them get on with it. Call your Congressman. Write them. Sign all these petitions and tell them we want to be energy independent; we want to drill here in America.

If the gentleman would yield, first of all, I would really appreciate if I could get the information on natural gas that you just gave us tonight because I was aware that it was a major problem, but I didn't know it was as big a problem as it is and is going to be.

And I'd just like to say something about the polls that show that people are becoming more and more concerned about energy and natural gas and gasoline.

The people are ahead of Congress. The majority, not too long ago, were saying environmental concerns were by far the biggest problem that we face. Now, seventy-some percent are saying, hey, we want to clean up the environment but at the same time we want to keep the economy moving and we want gasoline at a price we can afford and natural gas at a price we can afford. And so seventy-some percent now say drill in America. They know. They see it.

And if our Congress doesn't do something about it, as you said, we're probably going to suffer the consequences. I will make a prediction. At that point, there will be a knee-jerk reaction and they will throw everything to the wind, say drill everywhere, do whatever it takes, but at that point, it is going to take a long time to catch up, and our economy could suffer tremendously.

I'd just like to make one more comment about the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf is a tinderbox right now. We don't know what Iran's going to do. If Iran develops a nuclear capability, there may be a major war over there because Israel is not going to want to be threatened like they are threatened, and we could end up seeing a couple of ships sunk in the Persian Gulf and see a large percentage of our energy stopped flat, stopped. And if that happens, we're not going to have the energy to keep this economy moving immediately, immediately, not to mention the problems that you were talking about a minute ago.

I'd like for you to explain to me, if it's okay with the gentleman who has the time, I'd like you to explain to me why the United States can't be completely energy independent. Because when I look at these statistics on the trillions of cubic feet of gas that's there and the billions of barrels of oil that's there, it seems to me that if we just dealt with our own resources, we could become almost energy independent.

I guess the point I was trying to make is I know it would take a long time because we are behind the curve, but if the United States got with the program like we should have back in the seventies, we could be almost energy independent right now.

I wish you would really stress that point and the gentleman from Georgia would stress that point that natural gas 10 years ago was $2.

And oil was how much?

And now it's 14 times that.

Unbelievable.

America is a can-do Nation and we need a can- do Congress. And right now, the Congress, and both the House and the Senate, which is controlled by the other party, they have a we-can't- do, we can't do this, we can't do that. As a result, we're going to be short of energy, and the cost is going to go through the roof, and the cost of gasoline per gallon is going to go up, I believe, even further.

What the American people I think need to do is call their Congressman and Senators and say, hey, we want a can-do attitude, start drilling, let's get energy independent.

I wish you'd hold that chart up again that shows how big the ANWR is. I think the American people are under the impression that the ANWR is a huge place. It's the size of--you said Reagan airport, I said Dulles, but airports are airports.

The very small part of the yellow at the top is where ANWR is.

They have twice the amount of oil there that they have in Texas, and I just cannot understand why we're not drilling there.

Well, let me take just 1 minute and say that this is a critical issue. The American people know it's a critical issue, but I don't think they know how critical it is or how critical it's going to be, the natural gas, the gasoline, the lack of energy, the lack of electricity, possibly, if we don't get this.

And so, you know, it is a critical time for us. And the American people really need to contact their Congressman and their Senators and let them know that they want to move towards energy independence by drilling here in the United States. We have the ability to move toward energy independence. We have the ability to lower the price of gasoline. We have the ability to lower the price of energy that's going to be needed to heat our houses and our businesses this winter, but we're not doing it. And if we don't get with it, as both my colleagues have just said, we're going to reap the whirlwind. The economy is going to really suffer. It's not going to just be individuals, it's going to be the entire country.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Let me just add one thing. Each one of those drilling sites, if they drill and they find oil, it costs up to $2 billion to drill there. And if they're not going to make any money, they're sure not going to do that.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2008 recipients of the coveted Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Presented annually by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO)--a group representing more than 250 organizations that span the spectrum of ethnic heritages, cultures and religions--the Ellis Island Medal of Honor pays tribute to our Nation's immigrant heritage, as well as individual achievement. The medals are awarded to U.S. citizens from various ethnic backgrounds who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage. Since NECO's founding in 1986, more than 1,700 American citizens have received Ellis Island Medals of Honor, including 6 American Presidents, several United States Senators, Congressmen, Nobel Laureates, outstanding athletes, artists, clergy, and military leaders.

As we all know, citizens of the United States can trace their ancestry to many nations. The richness and diversity of American life makes us unique among the Nations of the world and is in many ways the key to why America is the most innovative country in the world. The Ellis Island Medals of Honor not only celebrate select individuals but also the pluralism and democracy that enabled our ancestors to celebrate their cultural identities while still embracing the American way of life. This medal is not about money, but about people who really seized the opportunities this great country has to offer and who used those opportunities to not only better their own lives but make a difference in the lives of those around them. By honoring these outstanding individuals, we honor all who share their origins and we acknowledge the contributions they and other groups have made to America. I commend NECO and its Board of Directors headed by my good friend, Nasser J. Kazeminy, for honoring these truly outstanding individuals for their tireless efforts to foster dialogue and build bridges between different ethnic groups, as well as promote unity and a sense of common purpose in our Nation. Madam Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing the good works of NECO, and congratulating all of the 2008 recipients of the Ellis Island Medals of Honor. I also ask unanimous consent that the names of this year's recipients be placed into the Congressional Record following my statement.

LTC Madelfia A. Abb; Noubar B. Afeyan, PhD; Charles R. Ajalat, Esq.; Robert A. Altenkirch; Hon. Goli Ameri; Roger E. Ashley; Ahoud Avshalomov; Anthony P. Basile; Vasile Beluska; Daniel O. Bernstine; William Boesch; John William Butler, Jr.; LT Jack J. Cambria; Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell; Dr. Brian Carty, FSC; Dr. Samir Narayan Chaudhuri; Col. Dik Cheung, MD; Dr. Karlene ChinQuee; Annette Choolfaian; Abla A. Creasey, PhD; Hon. Joseph Crowley; Edward Deeb; Arthur A. Dugoni, DDS, MSD; Christopher Erikson; Richard Farkas; Peter B. Fodor, MD, FACS; Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD; Robert L. Ganley; Hon. George A. Grasso; Hon. Joseph R. Guccione; Noosheen A. Hashemi; Stephan S. Huh; Hon. Dora L. Irizarry; E. Neville Isdell; Chief Anthony J. Izzo; Dr. Stuart W. Jamieson; Trevor O. Jones; Patrick J. Kelly, MD, FACS; James W. Keyes; Laya Khadjavi; Darioush Khaledi; Parisa Khosravi; Daewon Khym; Peter J. Kight; Wilson Ko, MD; MG Anthony R. Kropp; Pamela H. Kwatra; William Landberg; Fred Horst Langhammer; Anthony J. Lariccia; Young Bin Lee, MD; BGen. Paul E. Lefebvre; Robert H. Lessin; Demetrios G. Logothetis; Col. Eugene V. Lombardo; F. Joseph Loughrey; Xindi Lu; Terry J. Lundgren; Franklin R. Manios; Matthew J. McCoy; General Duncan J. McNabb; Maria Mehranian; Leo Melamed; Lewis C. Merletti; Bernd (Ben) Messing; Benjamin Mevorach; Avid Modjtabai; Jacqueline Murekatete; Mary Najarian; Vartkes Najarian, MD, FACS; Jacques Nasser; Long V. Nguyen, PhD; Franco Nuschese; CAPT. Robert R. O'Brien, Jr.; Ronald J. Onesti; Maria Otero; Randy Y. Owen; Mehmet C. Oz, MD, FACS; Laurice Y. Parkins; Richard P. Parrillo; Mukesh (Mike) Patel; Bhupendra R. Patel, MD; Gloria Perez; Hon. August B. Pust, PhD; Robin D. Rapaport; Lt. Cdr. Tamsen A. Reese; Michael P. Ricatto; Daniel M. Rooney; Thomas P. Rosandich, PhD; Harut M. Sassounian; Dhiraj H. Shah, MD; Jerome Shaw; Hon. Paull H. Shin; Sampat S. Shivangi, MD; Gary A. Sinise; Theodore M. Solso; Dr. Theodore J. Strange; Hon. Evelyn Lundberg Stratton; Haldun Tashman; Gerald N. Tirozzi, PhD; Stephen J. Trachtenberg; Nadadur Vardhan; Victor S. Wahby, MD; Aldona Z. Wos, MD; Chun To (Tony) Yeung; Louis S. Zamperini.

Madam Speaker, you know, one of the things that I think everybody in business understands is if you raise the taxes on a business, they pass that tax along to the consumer in the form of a price increase, cars, no matter what the product is. And in this particular case, what we're talking about tonight is oil.

Senator Obama, who is running for President, says we ought to tax the windfall profits of the oil companies. Well, that may be a good idea as far as he is concerned, but when you tax the oil companies, they're going to pass that on to the consumer in the form of price increases. Gas prices are already high enough as it is.

What we should be doing instead of increasing taxes like that is to drill in the United States of America. As my colleagues have just said, we have a lot of oil in the ANWR, and the geologists have told us there is oil there, as much as 1 million or 2 million barrels of oil a day, which could drive the price of gasoline down. And yet, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and Senator Obama continue to say, no, no, that's not the answer; raise taxes on the oil companies.

That isn't going to get us one drop of oil. We need to drill here in America.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think I'll take the whole 5 minutes tonight because I'm going to join Mr. Westmoreland of Georgia in a special 1 hour order on energy in just a few minutes. But I would like to say, during the 5 minutes that I have, that another week has gone by in the Congress of the United States and we have taken no action in dealing with the energy crisis that faces America today.

The price of gasoline is well over $4 in most areas, and in some areas it's up closer to $4.50. Diesel fuel is over $4.50 a gallon, and the truckers across this country are suffering, and they've even demonstrated here in Washington, D.C.

And it's not just the energy problem that we have to deal with, it's the effect that the energy problem has on other commodities, such as food and other equipment that we need to keep this economy moving forward.

The price of food is going to go up. It's going to have tremendous inflationary pressure on every family in this country if we don't address this problem and address it quickly. I know some of my colleagues say, well, you know, if we started drilling for oil in the ANWR today, it would take 10 years before we would get that oil to market. Well, I disagree; I think it would be a lot sooner than that. But the sooner we start, the quicker we will have that oil at our refineries.

We also could drill off the Continental Shelf and get another couple million barrels of oil a day. And that may take a little bit of time, but the sooner we start, the better.

The other thing we have to consider is we need more refineries to refine that oil. We haven't built a refinery, I think, in this country for the past, what, 30 years? And we need that capacity in order to get this oil transitioned into gasoline and diesel fuel for the people to use in this country.

To sit back like we have and not do anything over the past weeks and months, watching the gas prices go up and watching people suffering, in my opinion, is just unconscionable. Yet, my colleagues, we really haven't done a thing.

I reach out to my colleagues on the Democrats' side of the aisle. You're in the majority and we're in the minority, but we all understand we have a crisis facing this country. We need to work together to explore, to get the oil that we have in our country to market as quickly as possible. We also have as much as a 500-year supply of natural gas, a clean-burning fuel that we could get to market if we could get it out of the ground, and we can do it in an environmentally safe way, and we can extract the oil in an environmentally safe way.

If we were talking to Americans all across the country tonight and if we said, ``do you think gas prices are too high?'' they would all say, ``Yes.'' If we said, ``would you mind if we drilled in this country and in an environmentally safe way to get oil out of the ground to lower your gas prices?'' you'd get 80-90 percent to say, ``Yes.'' If you asked them ``what about the ANWR?'' they'd say, ``Where's the ANWR?'' Most people aren't aware that it's a very small part of Alaska which is three times the size of Texas.

We need to move toward energy independence. We have the ability to be completely energy-independent from Saudi Arabia, from Venezuela, from Mexico, from Canada, from any country in the world. We can be independent if we work together, but we haven't done that.

Many of my colleagues are saying, ``Well, we're concerned about the environment.'' We all want to transition to new technologies, to new ways of getting energy so that people can have clean-burning fuel, but in the meantime, while we're doing that, we must realize that we're having a terrible, devastating impact on our economy by not taking action.

So I would just like to say to my colleagues, before I get together with Mr. Westmoreland for this 1-hour special order, let's work together. The American people are begging us. If you don't believe it, go to any gas pump in the morning or tonight and ask them. They're begging us to do something about the exorbitant fuel prices which are not only affecting their getting to and from work but that are also affecting their ability to buy groceries at the supermarket and that are affecting every other commodity. It's going to severely hamper and hurt this economy if we don't work together very quickly to get the job done.

Now, I believe that if we listen to the American people that Democrats and Republicans can work together, and we can come up with a plan to extract these vital, essential minerals so that we can lower our gas prices and can lower the energy prices in this country, but if we don't and if we continue to fight with each other and if we're recalcitrant and if we don't do something, then the problem is going to get worse and worse and worse.

So I would just like to say to my colleagues and to plead with them one more time tonight: Let's not let another week, month or year go by of our not having done anything to explore or to drill for our own natural resources that can give us energy independence. We've been talking about it since the Carter years back in the 1970s. It is time we did something. Americans are suffering, and we're not doing anything. Democrats and Republicans must work together to solve this problem.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Would the gentleman yield.

The geologists with whom we've talked say that they know that there is oil in the ANWR and that they know where the oil is off the continental shelf. I don't know about these other 8,000 leases in the spots that we're talking about, but I would be happy to talk to them about

exploring those if we could work together to get the oil out of the ground and get it to market.

I'd just like to say to my colleague that I know that you want to move toward energy independence. We have a different view on how it has to be done. You'd like to do it in an environmentally safe way, and so would we, but we aren't starting. So I'd just like to say to my colleague:

When are we going to start? In your opinion, how are we going to start, and how long will it take?

The transition to hybrids and to everything else and to get everybody in this country working on these things is a laudable objective, and I agree with you that we should be doing that, but in the interim, we've been just sitting around, waiting for 30 years. The American people, I don't think, can wait much longer.

So I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I'd just like to ask you: Where do we start? When do we start? How do we start if we don't drill?

Would the gentleman yield.

The reason I wanted to talk to you really briefly before Mr. Westmoreland and I take this hour is that we're going to have to work together to solve this problem. On its face, for us to say that the oil companies with these leases really don't want to exercise the ability they have to drill doesn't make sense.

The problem we have with energy right now is that China is buying an awful lot of the oil, and India is buying a lot of the oil. The appetite for energy is growing at a very rapid rate, even here in the United States, and we're not keeping up with the production necessary to keep the prices down. The oil companies want to drill. They want to make this money. They want more refineries.

You and I don't know each other really well, but what I'd like to say to you is that I'd like to sit down with you and with some of the oil companies executives and talk to them about the drilling problem and about the lease problem. Maybe there's something we can do by talking to them to get this thing off dead center. But to sit around and say they're not drilling where they should when the world needs more energy doesn't make any sense. We need more refineries. Everybody knows that.

As you were talking a minute ago, we want to move toward energy independence, but that's going to take time as well. So I would like to work with you and with other Democratic leaders--Mr. Rahall and others--and see if we can't get some of the oil execs in without beating them over the head about, you know, taxes on them and just say, ``What do we need to do to get you to do exploration in a clean way and to get this energy to market as quickly as possible?'' I'd like to talk to you about it and see about that.

If the gentleman will yield for just one second, I know you have to leave and I just want to say one thing real quickly, if you don't mind.

You know, you can blame us, we can blame you. We can go all the way back to the Carter administration when we had lines. You are a fairly young man, you probably don't remember, But there were lines around the block and people coming with five gallon cans to get gas because we didn't have any. There is probably enough blame to go around.

The problem is we are in an economic crisis right now that is not going to get any better until we work together. I have been down here railing against you and the Democrats for the last three or four or five weeks saying you guys are the reason that gas has gone up a buck- and-a-half in the last 2 years. You can blame us if you want to. But the people who are watching on television and the people around this country right now are paying 4 bucks-plus a gallon and they want us to work together. I would like to sit down with you and others like you and try to figure out a way to get this problem solved.

If the gentleman will yield just real quickly, I would like to say this to you as you leave. I would like to see a number of you--

Will the gentleman yield just for a second?

I know, but I would like to talk to you before you leave.

Will the gentleman yield just for one second?

Before you leave, let me say I think what would be very illuminating for the American people is for you and three or four of your colleagues who have some expertise in this area to come down with three or four of our colleagues and sit down and discuss in logical way these issues you are talking about, because we all want the same thing. So I would like to talk to you about that after we are through here, and maybe we can work something out in the next week or two.

Thank you, Mr. Westmoreland.

First of all, let me compliment my colleague from Georgia, because I really appreciate you taking the initiative to actually lay before the American people those who support energy independence, true energy independence and those who don't. I think this will do it. I hope this is publicized across the country so every single constituent of yours, mine, everybody in this country who is paying $4-plus a gallon for gasoline will know how their representative feels about this issue.

One of the things we were talking about just a few moments ago before our colleague left, which was very troubling, was that he indicated that oil companies were protecting leases, and he didn't want to drill in those places. It's very--it's almost a ludicrous argument.

Because with the demand for oil growing like it has around the world, the need for more oil or energy is apparent. The more oil companies, the

more they drill and the more they refine, the more they are going to be able to sell. What my colleagues have said in the other side of the Senate and over here is they want to raise taxes on the oil producers.

That's okay if they want to tax those people, but oil companies don't pay taxes. This is what people need to understand. Those taxes are passed on to the consumer when they buy the gasoline, because they raise the price of the gasoline.

When you buy a car, if you raise the taxes on the production of a car, it's passed on with the prince increase on the car. So companies, corporations aren't paying these taxes, the consumer is. That's what we really need to explain to the American people.

The thing that troubles me the most--and this is why I appreciate you doing this and taking this initiative, Representative Westmoreland, is because the American people are confused. Right now they read in the paper, see on television, well, the Republicans killed a bill in the other body that would have really put the hammer to the oil companies.

The fact is that it was raising taxes on the oil companies, which would have passed on to consumers in a price increase that would have made gas prices even higher. What we need to do, as you said, and what you are doing tonight, as my colleague from Georgia, your buddy here is going to talk about in a few minutes, is we need to get more energy out of the ground and we have the ability to be energy independent.

My colleagues say, well, it's going to take 10 years it may take 5 years, it may take 2 years. I don't know. But we have been talking about this since the Carter years in the 1970s, and we haven't done anything.

So I want congratulate you one more time, I am happy to be here with you tonight. I will stay with you for the whole hour if you want me to. But I hope that we will get across to the American people this, we don't want this to be political, we want to work together with them, and they are not willing to do it at this point.

We need to work with the Democrats to get a program, to become energy independent, to get our oil and natural gas and coal shale out of the ground so we don't have to depend on Saudi Arabia or OPEC or Venezuela and Mr. Chavez down there who may pull our string any day.

We need to become energy independent and quit talking about it. We need to work together to get that job done because the American people, if you look at the polling results, I think Congress is worth, what, 18 percent in popularity right now, a pox on all of our houses. We better get together, or they will throw us all out.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Would the gentleman yield, I would just like to interject something here.

Our colleague from Ohio was talking about these leases. And the reason they want to drill in ANWR is because geologists found there is a huge supply of oil there. That makes your point. That's where the oil is.

As Willy said, that's where the money is. So why would you drill, as you said, in leases where there aren't any, when you know, you know that there's oil in the ANWR.

I just want to say one thing about what you are doing here tonight. I know that we can't talk to the American people, we have to talk to each other. But if I were talking to the American people tonight, I would say, like you are saying, you ought to call your congressman and tell him to sign this thing. I can't say that to the American people because I'm only allowed to talk to you. But if I were talking to the American people, I would say Mr. Westmoreland has the right idea, let every Congressman know how you feel, and if you do, then they will change their mind and they will support exploration that will give us energy independence.

So I congratulate you on doing this. This is a great idea.

I think one of the things that ought to be put into the equation that we don't discuss a lot, and that is that we are depending on the Middle East for what, 40, 50 percent of our energy. Right now we know there is a lot of conflict in that part of the world. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, he burned a lot of the oil wells. And had he taken over, we would all have been buying or trying to buy oil from Saddam Hussein.

The reason I bring this up is we don't know what is going to happen 5 or 10 years from now. There could be a terrible conflagration over there and we might not be able to get oil out of that area for our country. They might sink a couple of ships in the Persian Gulf and block the tankers from even getting out of there, and we won't be able to get energy. So what do we do then? Do we let the lights go out and let the cars stop on the streets because we don't have energy? That is another reason, for national security purposes, that we have an energy supply here and become independent of the other countries in the world.

As you said, both men from Georgia, we have the ability to do it. Even if it took 10 years, and I don't think it would, but even if it did, we ought to be looking down the road and asking, Do we want to keep depending our security on the Middle East where something could go wrong tomorrow when we could be independent, as far as energy is concerned, right here in America and protect ourselves, as well as getting the energy that we need, from a conflagration that might take place halfway around the world.

Would the gentleman yield?

One of the things that we haven't really discussed a great deal tonight is if they didn't want to drill for oil, for instance, we have a several hundred-year supply of natural gas, and there could be an entire new industry creating conversion units for automobiles that would be much less than a brand new car, that could convert gas-powered cars to natural gas power, which is a clean burning fuel.

But once again, the opposition will not allow us to drill for natural gas, which is a clean burning fuel which would help the environment. So it's not just the oil issue; it's the entire energy issue that you're talking about.

And that's why I think that the American people, I hope that they're paying attention to this. I know that they're getting their attention because the price of gasoline is so high. But we have the ability to use natural gas. We have the ability to use oil. We have the ability to get it out of the ground, to use shale and we're being blocked again and again and again.

And I appreciate you and the other gentleman from Georgia saying tonight that we'd like to work with the Democrats on the other side of the aisle to solve this problem. But, as you said before, it takes two to dance. Well, I guess I could dance by myself, but that wouldn't be very becoming. But it takes two to tango, and I would just say that if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are listening to my colleagues from Georgia, let's get together and see if we can come up with a way to get this problem solved.

I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

You know, the truckers across this country that drive these big diesel rigs that bring food to the market and all these other commodities, they were so upset when diesel fuel got to over $4 a gallon, now it's over $4.50 a gallon, that they came, hundreds of them, maybe even thousands of them, drove here into Washington, DC to protest. And they're very concerned about that. And the people who buy those products are concerned.

You even see now where people are stealing cooking oil from McDonald restaurants in the back so they can augment their fuel so they can get more mileage with their diesel trucks.

And I would say, if I were talking to those truckers across the country, and I know we can't because we're just talking among ourselves, that the truckers, I'm sure, would want their Congressman and the people they serve to contact their Congressman to say sign this petition because we can't afford to bring across the country the food and the commodities necessary to keep your standard of living where it is today. So it's not just the guy driving his car to and from work.

I had a young man, I won't tell you who it is because he might get fired. But he's a young man who works here in the Capitol. And he was talking to one of his friends, and I walked out, and I said, what about this drilling in the ANWR and in the United States to get oil? He says, I don't care where you drill. He says, I live 45 minutes from the Capitol. I can't afford to drive to and from work anymore, and I'm going

to buy an air mattress and pump it up someplace so I can spend half of my time here because I can't afford to go home.

So they're upset, the people driving these cars, because they can't afford to live like they did in the past. It's hurting people with home mortgages, their food and everything else, those on limited incomes.

But as I was saying before, the truckers have already demonstrated. And I'll bet you if they knew tonight that these petitions that you've come up with were here on the floor, I'll bet you every one of them would call everybody they know and tell them, call your Congressman. Tell him to sign that petition so we can get the fuel down so we can transport the goods and services you need across this country so you can live again.

You know, a number of us--I'm on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I do some traveling to meet with leaders in other countries around the world. And one of the things that I have found is the Pound Sterling and the Euro, their currency has gone from where it was about 70 cents to the dollar to where the Euro is almost one and a half times what the dollar is as far as value's concerned.

And one of the reasons why you have seen the currency of the United States go down is because we're buying more and exporting less, and one of the main reasons for that is what you just mentioned a moment ago: we're importing all of this energy when we could be producing it ourselves keeping more of our money here, which would not only help us energy-wise, but which would strengthen the dollar and help the entire economy of the United States.

There are so many ancillary reasons, so many ancillary reasons why we should be drilling for our own energy that it doesn't make--that it isn't funny. And yet I can't understand why many of our colleagues don't understand that. It's not just energy, it's economic security, it's national security, it's a whole host of things; and we ought to get on with it. We really ought to get on with it.

And I would just like to say thank you very much, Representative Westmoreland, for taking the leadership. Once again,

Georgia, my two colleagues from Georgia are leading the way, and I really appreciate it very much.

Madam Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague on the Rules Committee yielding to me, and it is nice to see my buddies on the other side of the aisle looking so bright and cheerful tonight.

You know, if we don't do something about the price of gasoline and fuel, we will be able to go to the moon cheaper than we can drive down to the corner drugstore. I know that may sound like a joke, but the cost of fuel is going up so rapidly that everybody I have met, and I am talking about Democrats, Republicans, people on the street, everybody that I have met when I ask them what do you think about the price of fuel and gasoline, they say we have got to do something about it.

And I ask, What do you think about drilling here in the United States and the territorial possessions of the United States and offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf, and they say drill wherever you have to; drill wherever you have to, but get my gas prices down. And that is about 80-some percent of the American people that are saying that. Everyone I have talked to has said that.

You know, last night I spoke on the floor and as I left the floor, I talked to some of the people who work here. I am not going to tell you who they were because I don't want to get them in trouble, but a couple of them told me that they drive about 35 or 40 miles to work every day, and they can't afford to do it because the price of gasoline has gone up so rapidly. One of them told me he was going to buy a blow-up mattress so he can sleep someplace around here in the Capitol because he can't afford to go home at night. Now this isn't baloney.

People can't survive with gasoline at the prices they are right now. And not only that, the transportation of foodstuffs and other commodities are going up as well because of the cost of transportation.

So when I say, you know, that it may cost more to go to the store than it does to go to the moon, I am being facetious, of course, but it sure sets the point in hard concrete. The cost is unbelievable, and the American people want us to do something about it. And my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, you are not listening. You are not listening to the American people. They want to drill in the United States. They want energy.

May I have another 30 seconds?

People in this country want their energy prices to go down, and they want them to go down now. You are not doing anything, and a lot of you guys are my friends, but I am going to tell you right now, this is going to be one of the major issues if not the major issue in this fall's campaign.

I talk about immigration and everything else. This dwarfs immigration and all of the other issues we talk about because it is hitting people right where they live in their pocketbook and we must not be controlled by the lobbyists around here that are concerned about the environment. There has to be some balance between the economy and the environment in this country, and you guys need to do something about the price of gasoline. You're the ones who are holding it up.

Will the gentleman yield?

I just want to ask you one question.

You are right, this is a major problem, energy, and you can blame anybody you want to all of the way back to the Carter administration and Reagan. But what do you think about drilling in the ANWR or off the Continental Shelf to get some of our oil? What do you think about that?

I thank the gentleman for taking the time to do this. I wish everybody that is interested in golf were paying attention tonight because you're mentioning some really great players from San Diego. There must be something in the water out there.

But Scott Simpson is a friend of mine. I have had the opportunity to play with Scott a few times. And he is probably one of the nicest people I have ever met in golf. He is a very good Christian man. He is an outstanding golfer. He doesn't know the meaning of ``quit.'' And he won the U.S. Open as well. And he is one of those guys from San Diego that you as a San Diegoan, I guess that is how you say it, ought to be very proud of.

Billy Casper and Phil Mickelson, Scott Simpson and Gene Littler, a great bunch of guys and a great bunch of golfers; Phil Mickelson, I have had the pleasure of playing with him as well. I will tell you, he is going to win the Open one of these days because he has the ability, and he is the caliber of man to get the job done. I know he has had a few flukes here in the past. He has won the Masters twice. And I predict Phil will win the U.S. Open before too long.

The people that criticize Mickelson probably can't even carry his shoes. He has won two Masters. He is the number two golfer in the world right now. He is tough in every tournament. So when people say something bad about Mickelson, they had better take a good look at themselves, especially if they are a golfer.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the best and greatest golf tournament in the world.

Mr. Speaker, we have been talking about the energy crisis in this country now for some time, and it has captured the imagination and the attention of probably every person in America, all 300 million people, because the price of gasoline is now over $4 a gallon.

It has affected every family as far as their ability to live the kind of life they want to because they have to spend so much money on energy. It has affected the price of our food because the people who transport our commodities across the country--the truckers--are now paying $4.50 to $5 a gallon for diesel fuel. In fact, they've demonstrated here at the United States Capitol with their trucks because it's so expensive for them to do their jobs.

We had a hearing today on how China is being involved in the United States and in Central and South America. They're buying up more and more of the oil because they have an economic expansion program, funded, in large part, by the money that we give to them in trade. India is now taking more and more energy and oil. So the demand around the world is growing at a very rapid rate.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are always talking about new energy--new sources of energy, new technologies. I'm for all of that. We all want to clean up the environment, but with the demand for oil growing at such a rapid rate all around the world and with these countries that have more and more ability to buy oil and to use oil because they need more because their populations are growing so rapidly, we need to do something about energy in this country.

We have the ability from coal shale, I understand, to take care of this country for a couple of hundred years, as far as oil is concerned, by converting that shale into a usable energy oil shale. We have the ability to get 1 million to 2 million barrels of oil a day out of the ANWR in Alaska. We're not doing that. We have the ability to get 1 million or 2 million barrels a day off the Outer Continental Shelf. We're not doing that. We have up to a 500-year supply of natural gas in this country. We're not drilling for that. It's all because of what people call environmental concerns.

I would just like to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that we should be concerned about the environment, but we should also be concerned about the economy of this country. We can't survive if the energy costs continue to go up and up and up while we wait on the transition to new technologies. Those new technologies are going to come, but it may take 1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now before they are able to pick up the major part of the energy needs of this country. We can't wait that long. We simply can't. We could become a second-rate economic power if we don't get control of our energy needs and are able to get the energy that is necessary for this country to grow economically.

I just don't understand why my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and in the other chamber on the other side of the aisle continue to say we should not drill for oil in our own country.

The American people, if you went out on the street and asked anybody at any service station, will tell you they don't care where we drill, because they want their gas prices down.

Now, we can drill in an environmentally safe way, but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not allow us to do it. It is just unexplainable, as far as I am concerned. We have the resources in this country, we have the ability in this country, to provide for the oil resources that are necessary to lower the gas prices in this country, and we are not doing it. And we are not going to do it as long as the other side, the Democrats in this Congress, continue to block us, because of ``environmental concerns.''

There has to be a balance between the economic concerns in this country and the environment concerns, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are simply not realizing that. They have the ``ostrich syndrome.'' They have got their heads in the sand.

Gasoline prices have gone up $1.50 in the last 2 years since this body has been taken over by the Democratic Party. This is intolerable. They said they were going to do something about the energy crisis in this country when it was $1.50 less per gallon. We have to do something about it, and we have to start now.

We talked about energy independence during the Carter years back in the

seventies, and we haven't done anything about it. We had gas lines real long back in those days and we were going to become energy independent. We have not done it. The Congress of the United States has been controlled by the other party up until 1994, and we haven't done anything about the energy shortfalls in this country.

It is time that we become really bipartisan in the search for energy. It is time for us to work together. We need to be able to explore this country for the natural resources we have, the oil that we have in the ground and the natural gas we have in the ground, and we are not doing it.

I would just like to end by saying this, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Let's work together. Let's explore and drill for the oil that we have in this country so we can truly move towards energy independence and at the same time move toward the new technologies that will give us more and more of a clean Earth. That is what we all want. But at the same time, we have got to have energy now. We have to drill for it now. And I hope my colleagues will realize this before it is too late.

This is going to be a major issue in this campaign this fall, and I hope they will realize that and come to the conclusion that we ought to become truly energy independent and move in that direction.

Madam Speaker, if you went out to a gas station this morning or tomorrow morning and you asked anybody pumping gasoline what the number one issue is, they would tell you without a doubt it is the price of gasoline because it is having an impact on their food and on every other commodity that they deal with.

The American people want gasoline prices and energy prices to come down. And the thing that really amazes me about my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Madam Speaker, is they won't listen to the American people. Eighty percent of the American people, according to recent polls say that if we have the resources here in America, we should drill for them right here. Obviously, everybody is concerned about the environment, but we can drill for oil in the ANWR and off the continental shelf and use coal shale to create a tremendous amount of gasoline and energy in this country without even relying on the foreign sources. The problem is that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will not listen to the American people.

Now I was watching Sean Hannity on Hannity and Colmes the other night, and Mr. Hannity said he couldn't figure out why the Republicans weren't talking about this and making this a big issue.

And if he were here tonight, I would say, ``Sean, we are doing it. We are screaming from the top of this Capitol that we ought to drill in the ANWR, we ought to drill off the Continental Shelf. We have a 500 year supply of natural gas. But the Democrats on the other side will not listen to the American people, and the price of gasoline goes up and up and up and the price of energy goes up and up and up.''

I understand that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to go to new forms of energy that are environmentally safe, and I think everybody in this body wants that.

But while we are transitioning to the new technologies, we still have to live. We still have to have heating oil. We still have to have gasoline. We still have to have energy. And the way we can get it and not depend on foreign resources is by drilling in the ANWR, drilling off the Continental Shelf, using coal shale and using natural gas. But the environmentalist lobby, and my colleagues will never admit to this on the other side of the aisle, but the environmentalist lobby has them by throat, and as a result they will not yield to the America people's will that we drill here in this country to reduce the price of energy.

Now, I believe this will be an issue in the fall campaign. I know everybody is talking about Obama and McCain and the presidential race. But the people who are in this country are really concerned about getting to and from work and paying their bills. I would just like to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, go to any gas station tonight, go to any gas station tomorrow, and ask anybody pumping gas this question: Do you think we ought to drill for our own oil? Do you think we should depend less on foreign resources like Saudi Arabia or Venezuela? And 80 percent of them will look you right in the eye and say, you bet. I want the price of gasoline to go down.

My Democrat colleagues, I want you to listen to them, because they are going to get more and more angry with you because you will not listen. We could bring the price of gasoline down immediately if we say we are going to drill in ANWR, drill off the Continental Shelf, because our competitors around the world are going to say, ``oh, my gosh, there is going to be competition,'' and you will see the price of gasoline and oil per barrel go down.

So, tonight, once again I will just say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, please, please listen to the American people. They want to drill in the ANWR. They want an environmentally safe way to drill in the ANWR, and we have it. They want to drill off the Continental Shelf. They want us to drill for our own oil and our own natural resources, and they don't

want to depend on Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico or anyplace else. And we should listen to them. We should listen to them.

So if Sean Hannity were here tonight, I would say, ``Sean, we are listening to you. We have heard you. We are screaming from the top this Capitol, but our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren't listening right now.''

But if we keep this up and the American people listen, and I think they will, they are going to hold my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the Democrats, they are going to hold them responsible for the cost of energy.

So I would just like to say to you, the election is coming up and everything looks pretty good for your side of the aisle, but you better do something about energy, because the American people want something done and they want it done quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of the bill, my good friend, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).

(Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in 1860, at the Wigwam Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, a man named William Seward marched around with his crowd of supporters, and he got to the convention center too late because the gallery was stacked with supporters for a guy named Abraham Lincoln. As a result of his getting there a little bit too late on the third ballot, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for President of the United States, and Mr. Seward lost, and he was the favorite. He was the odds- on favorite to be the Republican nominee for President and to be the next President of the United States. Well, he lost, and it was a crushing blow for him.

Yet, later on, Abraham Lincoln saw the qualities of William Seward, and he appointed him his Secretary of State, and Secretary of State Seward did an outstanding job in that capacity. The thing he did best, in my opinion, was in making sure that the United States purchased Alaska. He purchased Alaska for $7.2 million, and it was the best buy, by far, of anything that this country has ever done. The resources that are up there are just unbelievable.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure to go up to Alaska with Representative Don Young, and I had a chance to see the vastness of it and to realize the resources that are available to us up there. You just couldn't believe it. We had a chance to see ANWR. We had a chance to look at the Alaska Pipeline, and we could see what great potential there is out of Alaska if we would just use our heads and go after those resources.

One of the things that I don't understand and that, I think, the American people don't understand is why the Democrats and the Republicans in this body can't get together to start using our resources to reduce the cost of fuel, gasoline and energy in this country. As the gentleman from Alaska just said a few minutes ago, they have the resources up there. We could get up to 2 million barrels of oil a day out of the ANWR, and there may be more up there, and we could do it in an environmentally safe way. It's two to three times the size of Texas. If there were a spill up there--and of course I don't think that would happen--it still wouldn't hurt the ecology as much as we are suffering now under the energy pressure that the American people are feeling at $4-plus a gallon of gas. We should drill in Alaska. We should drill in the ANWR.

The Alaskan Senators and Congressmen want that done. They want those resources brought to the surface. Yet, the opposition party--my good friends over there like Danny Davis--won't let us drill in the ANWR. I do not understand it. I just simply do not understand it. We are drilling in Texas. We are drilling in Oklahoma. We are drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, way up north in the ANWR we cannot drill. I just do not understand it.

I wish my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are influenced so much by the environmental lobby would go out on the street tomorrow morning at the gas stations and say, ``Hey, you're paying $4.10 a gallon for gasoline. Would you mind if we drilled in the

If the gentleman is not yielding back, I will reserve the balance of my time as well, Mr. Speaker.

Let me yield, then, to my colleague once again, my good buddy from Alaska (Mr. Young).

Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and if you would like, I would be happy to yield back.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

I think, Mr. Speaker, Danny Davis did a great job in explaining this piece of legislation; so I won't be redundant in going over the same details he just covered.

I will say, last week this bill was scheduled for consideration, but it was pulled because of opposition to a number of contentious provisions added to the legislation such as the explicit authority for GAO to access Medicare part D pricing and rebate information and pharmaceutical trade secret information. Those provisions are not included in the bill today, and so there is no real problem with it.

I congratulate Danny Davis on his presentation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H.R. 5683, the Government Accountability Office Act of 2008.

Last July, the Government Accountability Office submitted to Congress a legislative proposal to make a number of largely non-controversial changes to GAO's authorizing statutes.

That proposal and the bill we are taking up today, for example, would make statutory GAO's inspector general, and it would authorize GAO to be reimbursed for conducting financial statement audits of Federal agencies.

In addition, H.R. 5683 attempts to resolve a longstanding pay dispute between GAO and some of its employees. Hopefully, this bill will allow stakeholders to put the dispute to rest and move forward.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5683 was originally scheduled for floor consideration last week but was pulled from the schedule because of opposition to a number of contentious provisions added to the legislation such as the explicit authority for GAO to access Medicare Part D pricing and rebate information and pharmaceutical trade secret information. These provisions are not included in the bill we are taking up today.

In addition, there were a number of objections to the bill raised by the White House. It is my understanding these objections have been addressed in the version of H.R. 5683 before us today.

I appreciate the majority's willingness to remove the contentious provisions so we can move forward with this bill, and I urge my colleagues' support.

I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. BURTON of Indiana asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague just said, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority Independence Preservation Act is very important.

H.R. 5778 would amend the D.C. Home Rule Act to clarify that the chief financial officer of the District of Columbia does not have authority over the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, or WASA. WASA is a regional entity, funded by rate payers living in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Under current Federal law, however, WASA's finances are under the jurisdiction of the D.C. chief financial officer.

A memorandum of understanding has been in place between WASA and the District of Columbia CFO for many years stating that the CFO would not exercise its authority over WASA. However, it was recently determined that such a memorandum was not legally enforceable and that Federal law needed to be changed in order to make the previous agreement enforceable.

The purpose of H.R. 5778 is to codify in Federal statute the Water and Sewage Authority's financial independence from the District.

And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on S. 1245, legislation to reform mutual aid agreements for the National Capital Region.

This legislation was introduced by Senators Cardin, Warner, Mikulski, and Webb last July and passed by the Senate in December by unanimous consent.

Under current law, the Federal Government is authorized to enter into mutual aid agreements with State and local governments in the National Capital Region in order to allow the various jurisdictions to cooperate in the event of an emergency without risk of liability for the acts or omissions of their employees while rendering aid.

Senate bill 1245 would further state that entities such as the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, the Water and Sewer Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority would be authorized to enter into these mutual aid agreements as well.

The goal here is to ensure that emergency response personnel in the National Capital Region are able to coordinate as closely as possible in the event of an emergency. Hopefully this legislation helps us to move closer in that direction.

And before I yield back my time, since I've covered that subject, I just

want to say to my colleagues on the other side, for whom I have the greatest respect, tomorrow morning, when you get up and you get out of bed and you go to the office here on Capitol Hill, stop by one of the gas stations on the way in and watch some people pumping gas at $4 plus per gallon. And just walk up to them--and you don't need to tell them you're a Congressman or a Senator or anything else, just walk up to them and say, what do you think about the gas prices? And they're going to say, they're horrible; Congress has to do something about it. And then say, would you object if we drilled in the ANWR to get oil to reduce your gasoline prices? Would you object if we drilled off the Continental Shelf to get another couple million barrels of oil a day to reduce your gas prices and your energy costs? Would you object if we drilled in some of the forests that we have, national forests where we could get 400 or 500 years of natural gas out? Would you object to that? Would you object if we considered more nuclear reactors to produce electricity for this country so we can lower the price of energy and, in effect, end up lowering the price of gasoline and other fuel products as well? You know what they're going to say? They're going to say what the national polls have already shown; 80 percent plus are for drilling and getting oil out of our country and our resources out of the ground. That's what the American people want.

I want to point out one more thing, because I respect all my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. When you first took over the Congress 2 years ago, one of the things that was said by you and Speaker Pelosi was that we were going to do something about the energy crisis and we were going to stem the tide to the growth in the cost of fuel, gasoline, and other energy products. Now it's gone up over 50 percent. It's now $4 plus. And it was $2.50 lower than that just 2 years ago.

It's time that we as Republicans and Democrats work together. The American people want that. It's time that we work together to lower the price of gasoline and other energy products. And we can do that by drilling in the ANWR, drilling off the Continental Shelf, drilling in our national forests where we can get natural gas, which is a clean burning fuel. And if we just start doing that, and at the same time look at other energy sources, new sources that are nonpollutants, we would be in great shape. Incidentally, we also have about two trillion barrels of oil in oil shale.

Let me just say to my colleagues that I hope that you will take heed to what I've said today. The American people want lower gas prices. We have it within our power to start drilling where we can get gas out of this country, natural gas, oil, and other things. Just tell the American people what you think and ask them what they think. And they're going to say ``Drill in America.'' You can do it in an environmentally safe way.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I listened to my good friend, Charlie Rangel, the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, from New York, a while ago, and he was talking about all these areas where we are going to get additional energy. There were some great ideas there. The problem is many of them are going to take a long, long time before we get the job done.

Right now, people in this country are paying close to $4 a gallon for gasoline, and the issue is we have a supply of oil in this country that will take care of most of the problem. We can drill in the ANWR and get a million to 2 million barrels of oil a day. That is three-and-a-half times the size of Texas, Alaska is, and we can't do it because they say it's environmentally dangerous. We can drill off the Continental Shelf and get a million to 2 million barrels of oil a day. They won't let us drill off the Continental Shelf, and yet Cuba is going to drill within 50 miles of the United States and give the oil to China.

They are using all these environmentally questionable issues to keep us from drilling for oil in this country to be energy independent. We have been talking about energy independence for 30, 40 years, and we haven't done a darn thing about it. The Speaker said here not long ago, about 2 years ago, they were going to do something about skyrocketing gas prices when it was $2.33 gallon. Now it's approaching $4 a gallon and we can't even drill for oil that's in our country to reduce the cost of gasoline.

The American people want solutions. They want Democrats and Republicans to come together and do what is necessary to help them with their energy problems. They want us to work together. We need to have some balance between environmental concerns and the cost that we need to deal with regarding this economy, and that means we need to lower the price of energy, especially gasoline, so people can get to and from work and deal with the problems they face on a daily basis. There's no question about that. Gasoline should not be $4 a gallon, and we can lower it if we drill for oil in our country.

While we are talking about the long-term problems of energy and dealing with new technologies, and we are all for that, we have to deal with the immediate problem, and the immediate problem is drill for oil in this country, build more refineries so we can get that oil to market and lower the gas prices like the Americans want it be to lowered back down to around $2 a gallon or less.

We can do it. But we will never do it unless we work together, Democrats and Republicans. All I hear from the other side of the aisle is, No; we have to worry about the environment. There has to be a balance between environment and economic concerns, and we are not doing it.