Bill Delahunt

Mr. DELAHUNT

Mr. DELAHUNT. So, in one year, you are telling me that it almost doubled, or did it? MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Not quite, not quite doubled. No. About a third more in profits.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Would you, for the sake of our conversation here, would you identify them, if you can read them from the chart?

Mr. DELAHUNT. So the five of them, Madam Speaker, in the year 2002?

Mr. DELAHUNT. That is the oil welfare program.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Well, there is such a thing as royalty payments, but in this administration there is a rule that has created a situation where even though the dollar value, as we can see from these various charts, has exploded in terms of revenue to the oil companies, the royalty payments that they make, Madam Speaker, have declined by $7 billion. And this is the energy policy of the Bush administration and the Bush Republican Congress. And yet we hear on this floor complaints about the Democratic proposals. You cannot run against Washington, Madam Speaker, when you are Washington. You just cannot do it. You cannot argue with yourself. This is your mess. This energy policy, you own it, Madam Speaker. The leadership in this House, the leadership in this Republican Senate, and the leadership of the Bush administration own this reality today, which is over the past 3 years big oil profits have more than tripled. And we here in this Congress, in collusion with that White House, have provided welfare to Big Oil on top of that. That is truly, Mr. Meek, obscene.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Well, how about $16 billion worth of subsidies for Big Oil? And this, of course, this is not for poor folk, because the big oil companies, Madam Speaker, they are doing remarkably well in this country. They are showing profits that only can be described as embarrassing in a free enterprise system.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Sixteen billion all together. MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Sixteen billion all together. Forgive me.

Mr. DELAHUNT. This was a test.

Mr. DELAHUNT. The LIHEAP program has been around for some time now, and it has been a program that was introduced in a Democratic Congress, supported by Democratic presidents and adequately funded. Today, only 20 percent of those who are eligible based on income, who would qualify if the funding were available, only 20 percent of those receive that assistance.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to my friend. MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Some people might be concerned about our commentary here and you referring to profits as being obscene, because, obviously, in a capitalistic society we understand and think profit is a good thing. So I think it is important that people understand what we mean. While giving away the store, while giving away $12 billion in tax breaks.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Okay.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Madam Speaker, I was listening to the President today, and I thought it was interesting that for the first time that I can remember, this President indicated that maybe it was time to take away those tax breaks for big oil. I mean, that is just a desperate response to falling polling numbers, because those tax breaks and subsidies for big oil, Madam Speaker, were the product of his energy policy combined with the rubber-stamp Republican Congress that has run this country for the last 6 years. Whose policy is it, Madam Speaker? It is not a Democratic policy that is responsible for a gallon of gas going from $1.45 on January 20, 2001, to $2.91 today.

Mr. DELAHUNT. If the gentlewoman would just yield for a minute.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Could I interrupt for a minute? MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Yes.

Mr. DELAHUNT. And that company is?

Mr. DELAHUNT. It gives them basically a discount on the purchase of their energy for heating their homes.

Mr. DELAHUNT. One hundred fifty thousand dollars. Not every 10 years. Not every 5 years. Not every year. Not every month. But every single day as long as he lives, $150,000. The pension package, according to newspaper reports, Madam Speaker, was $600 million. That is for one person. For one person. This is a moral issue. This is a moral issue. There are people that are having difficulty, they are working hard, but they are having difficulty making it, and yet there is a CEO who runs a corporation that earns $39 billion in a single year. And he has a pension of $600 million that provides him with $150,000 a day. Is that right, or is that wrong?

Mr. DELAHUNT. And my memory is that Exxon-Mobil, for the year, had a profit of $39 billion, that one company.

Mr. DELAHUNT. In my day that was called penny candy.

Mr. DELAHUNT. In 2 years. I guess that is productivity.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Three years ago. Now, that is why I use the word ``obscene,'' because something is wrong with our free market system.

Mr. DELAHUNT. Well, I tell you what is happening. Because we are talking about oil, and we are talking about home heating oil, and we are talking about staying warm. We are talking about heat. And the heat is coming, because, you know, we are going to hear a lot of hot air, but the American people are putting the feet to fire of those who have not supported a public policy regarding energy that makes sense for all Americans, not just Exxon Mobil that last year made $32 billion, and, by the way, whose CEO who is now retired, is earning a pension, Madam Speaker, of $150,000. I hope you heard that, Madam Speaker, $150,000. Now, you might say that is not much money. Well, it is a lot of money when you get $150,0000 every single day of the year. It is a pension that is evaluated.

Mr. DELAHUNT. $84 billion. MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. $84 billion.

Mr. DELAHUNT. I encourage profit. Clearly profit is important. And it is what made this country unique in terms of our ability to have a high standard of living. But this is not free market. This is not free market. This is something different. This is either price gouging or some sort of market.

Mr. DELAHUNT. But this is a nightmare.