Senate Proceeding on May 8th, 2008 :: 0:10:11 to 0:30:11
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0:06:48 to 0:10:11( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Richard Durbin

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Richard Durbin: people will see where we stand. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. allard: it is with great pleasure and pride that i rise to recognize and welcome guest chaplain

0:10:11 to 0:10:25( Edit History Discussion )

Wayne Allard: for the u.s. senate today, pastor brian severin, the pastor of victory christian fellowship church in greeley, colorado, served full-time ministry for 23 years and born and raised in northeast colorado

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Mark Pryor: before attending and graduating from the university of northern colorado which is also located in greeley. prior to coming to greeley six years ago to minister, he was the founding pastor for church

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Speech By: Mark Pryor

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Mark Pryor: alive in sterling, colorado, and serbed as pass tr to new life -- as pastor to new life fellowship and is joined with his wife of 27 years, jocelyn and 14 members of his congregation. we appreciate

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Mark Pryor: the pastor helping to guide us through deliberations today. made the words of inspiration this morning make us wiser and kinder to each other as we go about conducting people's business today. thank

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Mark Pryor: you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to a period of mob morning for up to one hour with senators permitted to speak for up to 10

0:11:24 to 0:11:38( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Pryor: minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees with republicans controlling the first half and the majority controlling the final half. the

0:11:38 to 0:11:55( Edit History Discussion )

Mark Pryor: senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: let me make one observation, that the guest pastor got his training at bible college in broken arrow, oklahoma, and i was mayor of tulsa. he reminded me of that,

0:11:55 to 0:12:09( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: back at that time. so he got good training. let me respond, firstly, if i can, to the assistant majority leader. first of all, it's easy to point the finger at oil companies. that's the easy out because

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Speech By: James Inhofe

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James Inhofe: everyone has the perception that all oil companies are doing great. here's the problem you have. if you were to take all profit from oil companies -- forget about windfall profit tax, take it all,

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James Inhofe: don't leave any for anything else, just other than what they put into exploration -- it would amount to 32 cents a gallon. if you slash their profits in half as they're proposing to do, that is

0:12:32 to 0:12:47( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: 14 cents. 14 cents does not really help a lot. at least my wife says it doesn't. i think that we're kidding ourselves -- there are solutions to this problem but that's not one of them. as far as

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James Inhofe: the strategic oil reserves, the total now is 88 million and if we were to use that, all of it now, that would take care of our problems for five days. that's not what i call a fix. 14 krnts a gallon --

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James Inhofe: cent as gallon is not a fix. five days of time is not a fix. but there are some things we can do. we do have the -- an amendment called amendment 4720 by our leader senator mcconnell, along with

0:13:18 to 0:13:29( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: senator domenici. what this does is look at the -- it's -- it was a bill, it was going to be the domestic energy production act of 2008 but we offer it now as an amendment. what this would do would

0:13:29 to 0:13:42( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: be to handle a lot of the problems. first of all if we had all the production out there that we needed to take care of america's needs, we still couldn't do anything because we don't have the refining

0:13:42 to 0:13:57( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: capacity. two years ago i untremendous duesed the gas price act and i couldn't believe it went right down on party lines. the democrats flat don't want to increase our refining capacity. this happened

0:13:57 to 0:14:10( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: in the environment and public works committee. it was actually a pretty part approach to it. we were taking a lot of the closed bases and using them and allowing e.d.a. grants to take place so adjoining

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James Inhofe: communities could turn those into refineries. it was -- also, streamlining the process and all of that. well, it went down -- right down party line. so this amendment that we're going to be talking about is

0:14:24 to 0:14:39( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: one that will do something about the refining capacity, the one we introduced, streamlines the permitting process so that there be a maximum on any new refinery of 360 days on a new refinery or

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James Inhofe: an expansion of 180 days. we have not increased our refining capacity. we have not had a new refinery in this country in 30 yours.x now, all the other countries are doing it. china is doing it. mexico

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James Inhofe: is doing t but we're not doing t the first thing we need to do is increase our refining capacity. second-degreely -- everybody hold on because it is very foreign to our thinking these days -- it is

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James Inhofe: an old concept called supply and demand. we have a lot of demand for gas out there right now. we know that when we go to the pumps. the problem is in the supply. and i hate to say it. it's right down

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James Inhofe: party lines. this is the chance -- i'm kind of excite ed that the public now has the attention of the high prices and realize that we really are going to have to do something besides just these gimmicks

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James Inhofe: that the assistant majority leader talked about. that would be to increase our drilling capacity. we could do it on anwr. people talk about up there the fact that this pristine wilder wilderness --

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James Inhofe: first of all, i challenge anyone to go up and look at this. this area is not a pristine wilderness. but the main thing is, if you take that little area where the huge reserves are we've been trying

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James Inhofe: to do something with, and it compares as a postage stamp does to a football field. it's such a small amount. all of the natives there want it it. all of the alaskans want it. it's their land. that would

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James Inhofe: be the first thing that we should do to increase our capacity. now, we tried this. we passed this 10 years ago and then-president bill clinton vetoed it. now, if he hadn't vetoed it, that would be flowing

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James Inhofe: today. and all the people who are complaining about it are the same ones that complained about the alaskan pipeline. they said it's going to kill all the caribou. you go up there now during the summer

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James Inhofe: months and you can see that they have increased their -- the number of caribou up there primarily because in some parts of alaska the only shade they can find is the alaskan pipeline and they're all

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James Inhofe: lined up there. so it's just not a problem. the other major area of production potential that's out there would be to go offshore. it's kind of interesting. one of the things in this amendment is

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James Inhofe: to allow the states to determine what they want to happen offshore. it's interesting. some of the states like virginia virginia, just south of where we're standing right now, they very much want to

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James Inhofe: -- i've talked to senator warner, and they're talking about allowing production offshore. several other states have wanted to do that. it's a wake-up call that we have right now that we're going to have

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James Inhofe: to do sam of these some of these things. it's interesting that canada allows offshore drilling in the great lakes. cuba is also exploring offshore drilling. tab if this happened, they would be

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James Inhofe: doing it with technology that's much less environmentally friendly than we have right now. so here we have the possibility that the cubans are going to be so long something without any emissions controls,

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James Inhofe: without any environmental precautions, and we would be allowing them to do that. another part of this amendment is section -- to reappeal section 526. this is something that should not have been

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James Inhofe: in before. this was actually put in, i believe, in the energy bill that was passed in december of 2007. section 526 prohibits federal agency ies from contracting to produce nonconventional or eternity

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James Inhofe: fields that emit higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than conventional petroleum sources. the scope of the field fuels that could be prohibited is left wide open to interpretation, including

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James Inhofe: fuels such as canadian oil sands, the e-85 ethanol, the coal and natural gas-to-liquids fuels. right now darned this is an experiment i had -- right now -- and this is an experiment that i had something

0:18:58 to 0:19:09( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: to do with, a and so is the chair. we now have a b-52 bomber that is running on gas-to-liquid fuel fuel. we know this is something that can help our situation. now, what i don't have time to get

0:19:09 to 0:19:31( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: into because i only had five minutes this morning i wanted to visit about but i want to do it later o and that is the ethanol mandate that came with the december of 2007 bill. right now we know that

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James Inhofe: ethanol in quite a few of the far and quite a few of the far-left environmentalists were against this. we find out ethanol is not environmentally sound. it's expensive. it's not good in our engines

0:19:47 to 0:20:00( Edit History Discussion )

James Inhofe: and it's competing -- in my state of oklahoma our livestock people say that we can't continue to have the biomass fuels competing with our feedstocks. and almost everything you see that's high-priced

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James Inhofe: now in the grocery stores, you can trace back to the ethanol maindzs. so -- back to the ethanol mandates. one of the things that week do is to exercise part of the bill that gives the e.p.a. the opportunity

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James Inhofe: to be involved in a waive er to waive the ethanol mandates. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.d mr. barrasso: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr.

0:20:36 to 0:20:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrow: president, i'm an original cosponsor of the americ an energy production act. the thrust of this legislation is expanding american energy supply through many different avenues. i view this amendment as

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Speech By: John Barrow

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John Barrow: an essential step forward in both addressing the short-term as well as the long-term american energy supplies. i also view this amendment as the right policy to deal with today's high price of energy. america

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John Barrow: needs to advance its energy policy, and this amendment deserves immediate consideration. there are many excellent provisions of the amendment that's before us. i am particularly interested in

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John Barrow: a provision to ramp up the production of 6 billion gallons of fuel derived from goal. the provision would start with a mandate of 750 million gallons of alternative coal-to-liquid fuels and then ramp

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John Barrow: up over a similar amount during the follow following seven years beginning in year 2015. aifnlgts estimate that this provision will -- analysts estimate that this provision will result in a re reduction

0:21:54 to 0:22:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrow: of the amount of oil that america is projected to import. simply put, coal is an abundant, affordable, reliable, and secure source of energy. coal can also be a very clean energy source. these coal-to-liquid

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John Barrow: fuels would likely be use ed, first, by our military. the department of defense would be allowed to sign longer contracts for sympathetic fuels. the duration of the contracts would be expanded from the

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John Barrow: current five years to 25 years. well, by doing that, this simple provision provides great potential because it adds certainty to the market and provides another incentive to develop the coal-to-liquid

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John Barrow: facility ies. in a time of soaring prices at the pump, this provisioneserve deserves serious debate, serious consideration. the fundamental energy issue before us is one, as we've heard from all of our speakers

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John Barrow: -- supply and demand. this is a time for congress to take action, action that can have a real important impact on america's energy supply. america's coal is vital to our nation's nation's economic

0:23:08 to 0:23:23( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrow: prosperity and our nation's security. coal is a crucial part of america's energy port foal portfolio. coal provides a foundationor a competitive economy, a secure future and a prosperous information

0:23:23 to 0:23:39( Edit History Discussion )

John Warner: technology sector. wise use of natural resources drives america's innovation and our economic success. from the steam engines of yesterday to the superconductors of the world, coal has powered this nation.

0:23:39 to 0:23:54( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrow: now is the time to support the technology and the development of coal-to-liquids. this will allow coal to be an important contribute or to america america's transportation fuel. after all, coal is

0:23:54 to 0:24:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Barrow: strategically found in states throughout the nation, both in the east as well as the west. now, the countries that are competing with us economically -- india, china -- they rely heavily on coal.

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John Warner: they are poised to exploit coal coal's many benefits. in order for us to sustain america's current economic leadership, we must continue to harness the vast potential of coal. energy sources often face

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John Barrow: challenges. you know what they are: reliability, security, economic competitiveness, ease of conversion, impacts on our food supply, and environmental considerations. coal provides an essential on-

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John Warner: on-demand energy supply in the united states, and coal is a low low-cost energy source. coal has enormous potential to be converted into transportation fuels. at a time when america faces record prices

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John Barrow: at the pump, coal should be use ed to produce gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. several provisions in the american energy production act of 2008 move america's use of coal and domestic energy in the

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John Barrow: right direction. america's energy and economic security will depend on promoting technologies that are relate ed to coal. the time to act to expand america's energy portfolio is now. mr. president,

0:25:52 to 0:26:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: i would urge adoption of the amendment when it comesp for a vote. mr. president, i yield the floor floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, may i ask how much

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Speech By: John Cornyn

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John Cornyn: time remains in morning business on our side? the presiding officer: 15 1/2 minutes. mr. cornyn: i thank the chair. mr. president, i want to thank the senator from oklahoma, the senator from wyoming

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John Cornyn: for their excellent remarks on our energy crisis that faces our country. i want to focus our attention on a couple of numbers this morning morning. first on the number -- the number is $3.65. this

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John Cornyn: is the average price of a gallon of gasoline now for sale across america. contrast that with the figure of $2.33. that shows how much the price of gasoline has gone up across the country since

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John Cornyn: that date, january 4, 2007. if you sort of extrapolate what that means for the average american family, they have seen a decrease in their standard of living or an increase in their cost of living

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John Cornyn: by roughly $1400 a year as a result of this increase in gasoline prices. another figure that i want to mention is the figure 745. that was 745 days ago speaker nancy pelosi before she was speaker

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John Cornyn: said that if she and her fell fellow democrats were given the majority, that they would come up with a commonsense plan to reduce gas prices. that was 745 days ago. and i would suggest, mr. president, that,

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John Cornyn: notwithstanding the fact that they announce ed a plan yesterday that i'll talk about here in a minute, that we're still waiting for a commonsense plan to bring down gas prices at the pump. here's

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John Cornyn: a quote. "democrats" speaker pelosi said, april 2 had 4 4, 2006, "democrats have a commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices." we're still waiting for that plan. you heard both the

0:28:21 to 0:28:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: senator from oklahoma and the senator from wyoming talk about some aspects of this -- of the legislation, the so-called domenici amendment amendment, which we will vote on on monday, which i'm proud to

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John Cornyn: co cosponsor. but let me focus on the plan that was announce ed by majority leader reid and the democratic leadership yesterday. first of all, we'll find some very familiar elements to this plan

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John Cornyn: that was rolled out by the democratic leadership yesterday. i would say that it bears remarkable ressembly resemblance to previous plans that they have rolled out. the number-one element that i would

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John Cornyn: suggest is that it produce produces not one single drop of additional oil or gas or energy, not one drop. the other characteristics that it bears remarkable resemblance to in terms of their past sproams

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John Cornyn: that they basically suggest that we tax, we litigate andee investigate our way to greater energy -- and we investigate our way to greater energy independence in this country. this is a formula which, although

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John Cornyn: familiar, is one which has not shown its effective, obviously, in bringing down the pain at the pumping the price of gasoline at the furch. well, first of all, they say, we're going to investigate

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John Cornyn: price gouging by the oil and gas industry. well, we have seen investigation investigations by the federal trade commission. we've had numerous hearings that have found basically no substantiation for so-called