E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 111 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 155 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2009 No. 161 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. and was they should be fearful. And I believe who wrote a 1,990-page health care bill called to order by the Speaker pro tem- that the greatest fear that we all which is very difficult to read. pore (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland). should have to our freedom comes from Page 1183—section 1904 provides $750 million in Federal funding for a new f this room, this very room, and what may happen later this week in terms of entitlement program to offer, quote, DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO a tax increase bill masquerading as a knowledge of realistic expectations of TEMPORE health care bill. I believe we have more age-appropriate child behaviors and The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- to fear from the potential of that bill skills for parents to interact with their fore the House the following commu- passing than we do from any terrorist child. nication from the Speaker: right now in any country. Page 1255—sections 2231–2235 makes In order to help explain some of why veterinary students eligible for up to WASHINGTON, DC, $283 million in Federal scholarship and November 2, 2009. we should be fearful, the Republican student loan forgiveness funding. I hereby appoint the Honorable DONNA F. Conference has gone through Speaker Page 1432—section 2531 provides in- EDWARDS to act as Speaker pro tempore on PELOSI’s bill—tax bill masquerading as this day. a health care bill—and brought out centive payments to States that enact NANCY PELOSI, some pertinent points page by page; new medical liability laws—but only if such laws, quote, do not limit attor- Speaker of the House of Representatives. and I want to share some of those with f neys’ fees or impose caps on damages. people. One of the good things that’s We need medical liability reform. MORNING-HOUR DEBATE happened this year is that people have This bill will prevent that from hap- learned they can read these bills and The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- pening. It’s a bad bill. The American become familiar with them themselves, people should be frightened of it. ant to the order of the House of Janu- so they don’t need us to tell them, but ary 6, 2009, the Chair will now recog- it may help to point to specific pages. f nize Members from lists submitted by Page 94—section 202(c) prohibits the OUR NATURAL GAS RESERVES the majority and minority leaders for sale of private individual health insur- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The morning-hour debate. ance policies beginning in 2013, forcing Chair recognizes the gentleman from The Chair will alternate recognition individuals to purchase coverage Florida (Mr. STEARNS) for 5 minutes. between the parties, with each party through the Federal Government. We Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, limited to 30 minutes and each Mem- can’t make that up. It’s right there in thanks to new drilling technologies ber, other than the majority and mi- the bill. that are unlocking substantial nority leaders and the minority whip, Page 110—section 222(e) requires the amounts of natural gas from shale limited to 5 minutes. use of Federal dollars to fund abortions rock, the Nation’s estimated gas re- f through the government-run health serves have surged by 35 percent, ac- plan; and, if the Hyde amendment were cording to a recent study. The study HEALTH CARE ever not renewed, would require the conducted by the Potential Gas Com- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The plan to fund elective abortions. mittee, the authority on natural gas Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Page 111—section 223 establishes a supplies, has indicated that the United North Carolina (Ms. FOXX) for 5 min- new board of Federal bureaucrats (the States possesses a total natural gas re- utes. ‘‘Health Benefits Advisory Com- serve of 1,836 trillion cubic feet of nat- Ms. FOXX. Thank you, Madam mittee’’) to dictate the health plans ural gas, or enough to last almost a Speaker. that all individuals must purchase; and century at current consumption rates. Everywhere I go in my district, peo- would likely require all Americans to This new estimate shows an exception- ple tell me they are frightened. They subsidize and purchase plans that cover ally strong and optimistic gas supply are frightened about what is happening any abortion. picture for this country, according to in this country. They fear for the fu- I think one of the funniest pieces in the report, which is issued every 2 ture of our country. What they’re talk- the bill, if anything can be considered years by a group of academic and in- ing about is that they fear for our free- funny, page 122, section 233(a)(3), re- dustry experts. The new estimate is the doms and they fear for the principles quires the commissioner, the new in- highest resource evaluation in the that formed this country and have al- surance czar, to, quote, issue guidance committee’s 44-year history and some ways been the basis on which we’ve op- on best practices of plain language geologists say even this estimate is too erated. I share that fear; and I believe writing—this from the same people conservative. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H12143 . VerDate Nov 24 2008 01:32 Nov 03, 2009 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A02NO7.000 H02NOPT1 smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with HOUSE H12144 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE November 2, 2009 Much of the 35 percent increase mestically, an increase in the use of relative freedom in Yemen. Counterter- comes from estimated gas reserves that natural gas would not only dramati- rorism measures in Saudi Arabia have are trapped deep in dense shale rock cally lower greenhouse gas emissions forced extremists to seek refuge which drilling companies have only re- but it would also reduce our depend- abroad, and many have relocated to cently learned how to tap. Shale for- ence on foreign oil. Yemen’s ungoverned areas. Known al mations are deep underground, 6,000 Natural gas powered vehicles in use Qaeda terrorists, including USS Cole feet or more, and the rock is relatively today are also helping to improve air bombers, have escaped from prison in impermeable. Deep drilling is expen- quality by displacing petroleum pow- Yemen to return to terrorism. The sive, and in the past the amount of gas ered vehicles which contribute about Christian Science Monitor reported that could be recovered was not suffi- three-fourths of the carbon dioxide pol- last month of the rising threat to cient to justify the cost. However, new lution found in urban areas. According Saudi Arabia from the deteriorating se- advances in production techniques to NGV America, one of out of every 10 curity situation in Yemen. Saudi police have boosted all previous estimates of transit buses and over 130,000 addi- prevented a bomb attack on October 13, financially recoverable natural gas. tional school buses, taxicabs, garbage and one of the perpetrators was a One shale formation that is receiving trucks and other vehicles on U.S. roads former Guantanamo detainee who en- new attention is the Marcellus basin, a are already fueled with cleaner burning tered the country from Yemen. 400-million-year-old shale formation natural gas. In fact, in 2008, the use of The bottom line is that terrorist de- stretching from New York to West Vir- natural gas vehicles displaced almost tainees should not be sent to Yemen ginia. That basin alone is believed to 300 million gallons of petroleum use in where al Qaeda operates freely and the hold as much as 500 trillion cubic feet the United States. government appears unable to control of natural gas, or the approximate Using natural gas instead of coal or their actions and movements. Reuters equivalent of 80 billion barrels of oil. oil is a low-cost, low-emissions solu- has reported that the Obama adminis- It’s not clear, however, how much of tion for reducing our Nation’s depend- tration has already cleared 75 of the re- this shale gas is recoverable. ence on foreign energy sources while maining detainees for transfer abroad, In recent years, natural gas pro- also reducing our greenhouse gas emis- and that includes 26 detainees from ducers have expanded the use of a tech- sions. Yemen. Based on what we know, this nique called horizontal drilling. After f administration is planning to send drilling more than a mile below the more, perhaps many more, detainees to YEMEN Earth’s surface to reach the shale layer this lawless country, increasing the below, a drill operator then slowly The SPEAKER pro tempore. The risk of future terrorist attacks on steers the drill bit to one side until it Chair recognizes the gentleman from Americans. is heading sideways across the shale Virginia (Mr. WOLF) for 5 minutes. The administration should imme- layer. This technique allows access to Mr. WOLF. Thank you, Madam diately terminate the return of detain- more of the shale than a traditional Speaker. ees to Yemen, and the congressional vertical well could provide.