Congressional Record—Senate S10012
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S10012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 28, 2003 reflects the importance of producing move ourselves through this issue, and day and, as our leader said, Friday and new energy sources and old energy offer to the American people a com- Saturday and beyond if necessary, and sources made cleaner, and all of that prehensive national energy policy that let’s get our work done for the Amer- being strong and important as it re- can make it to the President’s desk, ican people, let’s amend, let’s pass S. lates to new jobs. that can become law, that begins to 14, a national energy policy, and get Let’s talk about jobs for a moment. I put the kind of effort together to ourselves to conference with the House am very pleased we passed new tax produce the nearly 400,000-plus jobs to make this issue happen. laws. I am very pleased those new tax that are available inside this bill I yield the floor. incentives and rewards are hitting the spread over a decade of development The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- marketplace at this moment and the and growth of the kind reflective in S. ator from Oklahoma. consumer’s and investor’s pocket. I be- 14? Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I under- lieve out of that, new jobs will be cre- How many of us got up this morning stand there is a unanimous consent ated and possibly there will be a bit and simply walked over and flipped on that I be recognized for such time as I more consumer spending. the light switch and the lights came shall consume. That child tax credit check that is on? And how many mornings in one’s The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- hitting America’s homes, I see Home life have they done that and the lights ator is recognized. Depot has picked up on it. They are came on? Why, they come on every Mr. INHOFE. I say to the Senator saying, come out and spend your morning. We expect them to. We Amer- from the great State of Idaho how ac- money and build a better home, make icans have grown to believe that our curate he is. If there is anything he an addition, do some remodeling, and energy is always there and always overlooked, it was in addition to our we will help you do it. That is called around us, and we take it for granted. having electricity, power, and energy the free enterprise system at work, and My wife and I flew back from Idaho in the country, it is also the No. 1 na- that will generate jobs. yesterday. With my wife and I sitting tional security issue. If we want to talk about a jobs bill, on that jet airliner, it consumed hun- I can remember, as can the Senator then pass S. 14. Pass a bill that will dreds of gallons of jet fuel just to get from Idaho, way back in the Reagan bring natural gas out of Alaska us from Idaho to Washington, DC. We administration when we were about 37 through Canada and into the lower 48. took it for granted. Thousands of other percent dependent on foreign countries There will be hundreds of thousands of Americans were doing the same thing for our ability to fight a war, and we new jobs that will be created for the yesterday. They do it every day of the still did not have an energy policy. As construction of that pipeline—not only week. They go to the airport. They get did the Senator from Idaho, I talked to those who will manufacture the pipe, on an airplane. Thousands of gallons of President Bush, then-Governor Bush, but those who will clear the right-of- jet fuel later, they arrive at their des- before he ran, and he committed him- way and build the foundation and cre- tination and they take it all for grant- self to an energy policy. It is abso- ate the connectivity that will be com- ed. lutely essential. I agree we should stay bined to bring that gas to the lower 48, Somebody had to find it. Somebody whatever time it takes to get it done. and of course, all of the other kinds of had to transport it. Somebody had to f jobs, exploration, development and the refine it and somebody had to put it in SCIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE new technologies. the airplane. It is all energy. The Senator from Michigan was talk- Our great country is as rich as it is Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, the com- ing about fuel cells a few moments ago. today, and our people are as fortunate ments made by the Senator from Idaho I was up in his State. I was at the Ford as they are, in large part because we are such a good prelude to work into Laboratories at Dearborn a couple of have always been able to look 10, 15, what I am about to say. I am chairman years ago and drove a new hydrogen and 20 years down the road and build of the Environment and Public Works fuel-celled car. I hope that in my senior the infrastructure and do the research Committee, and in this capacity I have years I can buy a hydrogen fuel-celled and do the exploration that brought on a responsibility because the decisions car; its only pollution is a drop of continual flows of abundant, reason- the committee will reach impact and water being emitted out the tailpipe of ably priced energy. It has only been in influence the health and security of the car. I hope that is a form of new the last two decades that we stopped America. transportation for the future. If it is, it producing, but we kept on consuming, What I am about to do—and it is for will create hundreds of thousands of and gas prices began to go through the this reason that I am doing something new jobs; not just in crafting the car roof. Brownouts and blackouts began that is politically stupid—I am going but in producing the hydrogen, in sup- to occur because we were not allowed to expose the most powerful, most plying the hydrogen, in building the re- to look into the future and say: Here is highly financed lobby in Washington, fuel stations and the combination of where we are going and here is what we the far left environmental extremists. things that go along with building a are going to produce. The Senator from Idaho talked about new energy source for a transportation That is what S. 14 does. That is why the fact that we have to have elec- fleet for our country. it is so critical to our country at this tricity. Right now, we are dependent That is what this bill is all about. moment in time that we become less upon fossil fuels for 52 percent of our Why is there so much resistance to it? dependent on foreign sources, more de- electricity in America. There are peo- Why some 300-plus amendments? I have pendent on ourselves and our own pro- ple trying to get us to do away with looked at many of them, and from duction, our own initiative, our own that. If that should happen, I think he what I could see there are 25 or 30 capability, and we do so with conserva- has articulated very well what would amendments within that 300 that are tion, with production, and that we are happen to America if all of a sudden we legitimate, that have reasonable con- environmentally sensitive when we do had to go to natural gas. Already we cern. I believe there are at least 200 of it. That is all embodied in S. 14. are seeing some companies moving to them that are there for a political Why are we going to let this languish Europe and other places because they statement or for blocking purposes. when we need to be passing it and get- are thinking that maybe we will buy The other side argues that we just ting it to the President’s desk? One on to this hoax that will stop us from cannot get our work done, that we need more year? Two more years? Let gas being able to have fossil fuels. That is weeks more to deal with something we prices to the average consumer go up why when I became chairman of the have already spent 12 days on, that we $200 or $300 a month and just say that committee, I established three guiding have already spent 3 years on. Why do is okay when we know that through in- principles for that committee. we need 3 weeks more? Why can we not creased exploration and development No. 1, we are going to make our deci- begin to work at 9 tomorrow morning that does not have to happen? sions not on a political agenda but on and work until 8 tomorrow night and So I challenge my colleagues over sound science. No. 2, we are going to everybody come to the floor and, in a the course of the week that is at hand have a cost-benefit analysis. At least timely way, debate amendments, vote that we start tonight and we work let the American people know what them up or down, move to table them, through Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs- types of costs are involved in some of VerDate jul 14 2003 01:09 Jul 29, 2003 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G28JY6.041 S28PT1 July 28, 2003 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10013 these regulations that do not make any diseases, and harsh weather, all caused That was the same timeframe that sense.