8090 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 6 May 8, 2008 SENATE—Thursday, May 8, 2008 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was Mr. PRYOR thereupon assumed the Mr. DURBIN. I object to any further called to order by the Honorable MARK chair as Acting President pro tempore. proceedings with respect to the bill. L. PRYOR, a Senator from the State of f The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Arkansas. pore. Objection having been heard, the RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME bill will be placed on the calendar. PRAYER The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- f The PRESIDING OFFICER. Today’s pore. Under the previous order, the RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY opening prayer will be offered by guest leadership time is reserved. LEADER Chaplain Rev. Brian Severin from Vic- f tory Christian Fellowship in Greeley, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- CO. RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING pore. The Minority leader is recog- The guest Chaplain offered the fol- MAJORITY LEADER nized. lowing prayer: The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- f May we all join our hearts in prayer. pore. The acting majority leader is rec- DEMOCRATIC ENERGY PACKAGE Almighty Father, God of all creation, ognized. in the Name of our Lord Jesus, the au- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, thor of salvation, I pray for each one of f reading the morning papers, we learned a couple of key points about the energy our Senators standing in this legisla- SCHEDULE tive gate, 100 of our Nation’s best, in proposal introduced yesterday by our Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today friends on the other side. The most im- whose grasp is the throat of our fate. there will be a period of morning busi- Give each of them Your wisdom amidst portant point is that two central provi- ness for up to 1 hour, with the time sions of the bill are opposed by two of the confusion of our day. Help them equally divided and controlled between embrace Superman’s motto, bringing their own chairmen. In this morning’s the two leaders or their designees. The Albuquerque Journal, we learned that Truth and Justice, the American way. Republicans will control the first half Protect their marriages and families, the Democratic chairman of the Senate and the majority will control the final Energy Committee does not like the who are invaluable to each Senator’s half. heart, and enlighten their children’s so-called windfall profit tax. He called generation with a genius redefining the ORDER OF PROCEDURE it ‘‘arbitrary.’’ term ‘‘smart.’’ May a tidal wave of I ask unanimous consent to amend Now, we know this is a bad idea that unity erase the line drawn in the sand. this consent to note that Senator AL- does not work. The last time a windfall May our Senators lift their voices as LARD wishes to say a word about the profits tax was tried in the 1980s, it re- one, again declaring ‘‘United We gentleman who just served as our duced domestic production and actu- Stand.’’ Chaplain. I ask that his time not be de- ally increased our reliance on foreign Help us, the people, support our Sen- ducted from the minority time in oil, just the opposite of a rational pol- ators, help them ignore our selfish morning business. icy to reduce gas prices to make Amer- whine. May each of them fulfill their The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- ica more energy independent. calling, guiding us through the storms pore. Without objection, it is so or- In the Wall Street Journal, we of perilous times. dered. learned that the senior Senator from Amen. Mr. DURBIN. Following morning New York, the chairman of the Joint business, the Senate will resume con- Economic Committee, is raising the f sideration of S. 2284, a bill to restore alarm about another central tenet of PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE the financial solvency of the National the Democratic energy proposal, the The Honorable MARK L. PRYOR led Flood Insurance Fund. energy futures trading provision. The the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: As a reminder, all amendments to Journal reports the chairman is saying I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the the flood insurance bill must be offered the energy futures trading provisions, United States of America, and to the Repub- today. Senators should expect rollcall as written, would send the bulk of the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, votes to occur throughout the day as trading that is now done in America, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. we work to complete action on the bill. and thus American jobs, to markets f I ask everyone to focus on the amend- overseas. ments and showing up in a timely fash- I agree with both of these chairmen. APPOINTMENT OF ACTING ion. We want to complete this as quick- Two years have passed since Congres- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE ly as we can. sional Democrats said they had a The PRESIDING OFFICER. The f ‘‘commonsense plan’’ to address high clerk will please read a communication gas prices. This week Senate Demo- to the Senate from the President pro MEASURE PLACED ON THE crats finally unveiled that plan, and tempore (Mr. BYRD). CALENDAR—S. 2991 their own chairmen do not seem to like The legislative clerk read the fol- Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I under- parts of it. It is predictably high on lowing letter: stand that S. 2991 is at the desk and taxes, more bureaucracy, and contin- U.S. SENATE, due for a second reading. ued dependence on OPEC. PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Their proposal would do nothing to Washington, DC, May 8, 2008. pore. The Senator is correct. lower the price of gas. It will only To the Senate: The clerk will read the bill by title serve to further reduce domestic sup- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, for the second time. plies and increase our dependency on of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby foreign oil at a time when we are try- appoint the Honorable MARK L. PRYOR, a The legislative clerk read as follows: Senator from the State of Arkansas, to per- A bill (S. 2991) to provide energy relief, ing to make America more, not less, form the duties of the Chair. hold oil companies and other entities ac- energy independent. ROBERT C. BYRD, countable for their actions with regard to Republicans believe we should in- President pro tempore. high energy prices, and for other purposes. crease our supply of American energy ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 10:41 Dec 08, 2010 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR08\S08MY8.000 S08MY8 erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BOUND RECORD May 8, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 6 8091 to bring gas prices down and to create The Democratic approach deals with kinder to each other as we go about American jobs. Apparently our friends that. We go to the fundamentals. The conducting the people’s business today. across the aisle believe we should con- windfall profits tax says to the oil com- I yield the floor. tinue to ask OPEC to increase its sup- panies: There is a limit to what you f ply, while opposing additional produc- can take. Beyond that, the Govern- MORNING BUSINESS tion of American energy. ment is going to tax you and make it We will have an opportunity to vote clear to you that raising prices is not The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- on Monday on the proposal that the the answer. pore. Under the previous order, the majority of Members on my side think Second, we are going to stop putting Senate will proceed to a period of would make an actual difference in the more oil at high prices into the Stra- morning business for up to 1 hour, with coming years. It is a fundamental dif- tegic Petroleum Reserve. If there ever Senators permitted to speak for up to ference of opinion. We can either was a time we should not be taking oil 10 minutes each, with the time equally proactively increase our domestic pro- off the market, this is that time. We divided and controlled between the two duction or we can place greater depend- also provide in our bill for going after leaders or their designees, with the Re- ence on foreign suppliers and further this OPEC coalition, the price collu- publicans controlling the first half and delay energy independence. Given the sion that is going on at the expense of the majority controlling the final half. choice, I would rather produce more the American economy. The Senator from Oklahoma. American energy and create more We deal with price gouging to make Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, let me American jobs. sure the companies that engage in it make one observation, that the guest Mr. President, I yield the floor. know they are going to pay a heavy pastor got his training at Rhema Bible The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- price for that kind of conduct. And we College at Broken Arrow, OK. I was pore. The assistant majority leader. go after speculation, if it is excessive, mayor of Tulsa, he reminded me, back Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask to try to make sure we fuel any fires of at that time. So he had good training. speculation that might be adding to unanimous consent to respond in lead- f er time in the absence of Senator REID.