Phil Gingrey

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Well, that's what I'm thinking too. And I'm not glad to hear you say that, but I think you're right. I think that's absolutely right.

Mr. GINGREY. Well, I just want to thank my colleague. And of course, we're both physicians, Dr. Boustany, a cardiothoracic surgeon, myself, an OB/GYN doctor for many years before we had the distinct honor of getting elected to the Congress and working in the people's House and representing the folks we represent. And I, again, Charles, I think about this a lot of times, when I started the hour talking about how our leadership, Ms. Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi, Representative, I mean Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader Harry Reid, former Vice President Al Gore and others were so focused on saving the planet and global warming and climate change. And I understand there's some concerns there, and I'm not oblivious, although all scientists don't agree with that. But, you know, it does really become a matter of priority. And you and I, as physicians understand that people literally without a job, without a home, without a warm set of clothing, they can starve to death. They can die a lot quicker from that than they can over maybe a 75- to 100-year period time from inhaling a little bit of an environment that's not healthy for their lungs. So we care about it. We care about childhood asthma. We care about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema and lung cancer and all those things. But it becomes, really, a matter for leadership of the Congress to make these decisions and place priorities on things. We don't want the planet to increase 1\1/2\ degrees Fahrenheit over the next 75 years because there may be a scintilla rise in the level of the water and some remote island may get flooded and 50 people lose their lives. Now, I understand all that science. But right now what I really understand, and I think you do too, is the job loss, the unemployment rate, the economy, these wild gyrations that are occurring in the stock market, the food prices, the oil prices. This is the crisis of the day, the crisis du jour, and I think real leadership should recognize that, don't you, Dr. Boustany?

Mr. GINGREY. Well, I think, and I want to thank you for your contribution tonight because I think you said the key word when you said transition. And we are going to transition. And I think that, you know, 50, 75, 100 years from now we may not be burning much fossil fuel. But you can't do that overnight. You can't, all of a sudden say we're going to, by 2020 we're not going to burn any fossil fuel. Coal is fossil fuel. Petroleum products, diesel fuel, gasoline. We would have no transportation and we have no electricity. We'd be back using kerosene lanterns and bicycles and skateboards, I guess, to get around in this country. Well, Dr. Boustany, thank you so much. I had a few more remarks to make as we concluded. I think we have, Mr. Speaker, do we have about 10 minutes left?

Mr. GINGREY. So the refined products?

Mr. GINGREY. That is exactly right. I think you used the key word, and that is ``transition.'' We are talking about transition. It is just that some people want to transition just a little too quickly. I wish you would speak a little bit and reference this slide that I am showing right now in regard to the revenue-sharing issue. This goes back to the Energy Security Act of 2006 regarding the gulf coast States and the energy sharing. And I know that you have talked with me and other Members of the conference about what Louisiana does with that revenue sharing and how important it is to the State. As I close out, I will talk about this ``NOTA'' energy bill. I like to call it a ``nota,'' none-of-the-above act that we passed this week, and one of the key problems was the lack of any revenue sharing for the States on the east and west coast. If you don't mind addressing that, I appreciate it.

Mr. GINGREY. Well, I'll reclaim just for a second. Let me make sure I understand this now. You're saying that currently, under this Energy Security Act of 2006, as I point to this slide, again, GOMESA, that Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, you've said you fought hard for it many years, Texas, you get 37 percent revenue sharing, 37.5 percent. But are you telling me now that in that area in the Gulf of Mexico, when the oil companies go out and build new rigs and purchase new leases, then, according to this no energy bill that was passed this week, you wouldn't get any revenue on those new sites?

Mr. GINGREY. Reclaiming my time for a second, that's what I've depicted on this slide on the bottom, this new bill that we just passed this week. Everyone else, nada, again, zero, nothing, no revenue sharing. So where is the incentive for one of these States, Georgia, we've got 130 miles of shore line on the Atlantic Ocean. California, I mean, there's just not going to be the incentive to do it.

Mr. GINGREY. I'll reclaim my time, Representative Gohmert, just for a second and yield right back to you, because what the gentleman from Texas is talking about, of course, is this, the bill that was passed by the Democratic majority. And I have a little poster up here comparing the Republican bill, the American Energy Act, to the bill that was actually passed. And I just want to quickly run through this before I yield back to my two colleagues. In the American Energy Act, real offshore exploration, yes. Democratic energy plan, no. Renewables, without tax hikes, our bill, yes. Their bill, no. Real oil shale exploration. I won't get into details of that, but our bill, yes. Their bill, no. Arctic coastal plain, the ANWR. Our bill, go after that petroleum. Their bill, nada. Emission-free nuclear, our bill, yes, their bill, no, no, no, can't have nuclear. Clean coal technology, coal-to-liquid or coal-to-gas. Yes in our bill. No in their bill. New refinery capacity, Dr. Boustany and I talked about that. Our bill, yes. Their bill, no. No energy tax hikes, yes for Republicans, no for Democrats. No electricity price spikes. Yes for Republicans, no for Democrats. Lawsuit reform, yes in the Republican bill. No in the Democratic bill. So what Representative Gohmert and Representative Boustany are probably going to talk about now is when we had one, we had no amendments. We had a motion to recommit with instructions with a bill. And they've just referred to it, the Abercrombie, Democrat from Hawaii, Peterson, Republican from Pennsylvania that had 39 Democrats cosponsoring the bill. And when we offered that as a substitute, which we felt that each one of them, they had already signed on to the bill, surely they were going to vote for it. And I'd like for my colleagues to tell the rest of us what happened.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. I don't know what is going to happen in the Senate today or tomorrow, but hopefully we can get a bill passed through the Senate that has more, more in it than the draft language that wasn't actually in bill form that came out in the Senate 5 or 6 weeks ago with a group of 10, now up to a group of 20. It's still not too late for this Congress, House and Senate, to do something for the American people. I urge us to do that in a bipartisan way. Look, let's do the right thing, and I think the election outcomes will take care of themselves. The good people that need to be here will come back, and the ones that don't, won't. Let's just do the right thing for the American people.

Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for yielding, and I do rise in support of H.R. 2608. But I wanted to take the opportunity, Madam Speaker, to talk about energy. Obviously this is the main issue I think on the minds of most Americans today, and it has led, these high energy prices and dependency on foreign oil that we have been burdened by for lo these many years, since back when we knew this back in the seventies when we had a similar crisis and failed to do anything about it, and it has caused this economy, it is almost like a domino effect in my opinion, Madam Speaker, when you look at the high price of everything, the unemployment rate going up, what has happened on Wall Street, the meltdown in the subprime market. So we felt and I think most of my colleagues would agree on both sides of the aisle that the energy crisis is our number one concern as we move into the fall elections and congressional elections. Obviously this is a Presidential year. So my disappointment yesterday, when Speaker Pelosi, returning from the August recess, we, as you know, many on the Republican side, we invited our Democratic colleagues to join us, came back to Washington on a number of days. I think a total of 134 participated, some of us several times. We had lots of folks down here sitting in the seats because a Member could bring people on the floor, even though the C-SPAN cameras were off, microphones were off, the lights were dim, and we had some in the gallery as well, and talked about this issue. We just couldn't wait for the rest of our colleagues to get back so we could do something. This motion to recommit with instructions last night, the Abercrombie- Peterson bill, I think, had 39 Democratic cosponsors, many, many, Republicans, and I think it was a very, very good piece of legislation that did not include ANWR. It carved out ANWR, realizing that was something we agreed to disagree on, and leave that out of the legislation. But the most important part of the Peterson-Abercrombie bill that differed from what the majority party, as you know, brought to us for a final vote that did pass, it has no incentive whatsoever for the States to allow drilling off of their shores for the billions of gallons of petroleum and millions of cubic feet of natural gas, because they are sitting there thinking, well, gosh, on the gulf coast, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana are getting those royalties and putting them to good use, and we need that. My State of Georgia, right now, we have 135 miles of shoreline, the great State of Georgia, and we are $1.5 billion short in this revenue year, this fiscal year. I am sure Georgia would be one of the very first to get in line if we had that included. I am disappointed.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. I mean, these things might cause some harm, but how do we know that eventually we might create a country of alcoholics by burning all of this ethanol in our automobiles? People today are starving to death because they don't have jobs, and I think that's the first priority. Let's get this economy back on track, and let's get a decent energy bill and do it right now.

Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for yielding. As a proud member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 1432. This important resolution recognizes the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by promoting and raising national awareness of adoption and children in foster care, as my colleague from Nevada was just explaining. I commend him, the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter), for working in a bipartisan matter to bring this important resolution to the floor, a resolution that celebrates the children and the families involved in adoption, as well as the current programs and efforts designed to promote adoption. As was said by my colleague in Illinois, I was an OB/GYN physician for nearly 30 years before coming to the Congress back in 2003, and I am especially passionate, Madam Speaker, about protecting children and their right to life by encouraging adoption. Madam Speaker, adoption brings joy to many loving families who cannot have children of their own or who simply wish to welcome even more children into their homes and into their hearts. Both National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month, which will be recognized on November 15 and, indeed, throughout the entire month of November, raise awareness nationally for the more than 129,000 children who are currently in foster care and looking, almost begging, for those permanent homes. I wholeheartedly believe that raising awareness for adoption, as this resolution does so well, will help place more children in those loving homes. However, I believe that we should spend more than just 1 day, or even 1 month, during the year raising awareness on this issue. Both children and parents greatly benefit from adoption, and I want to applaud all individuals in my home State of Georgia and across this country who work so tirelessly to bring joy to these families who sometimes have very little joy. Madam Speaker, I want to urge all my colleagues, and I'm sure they will, to support H. Res. 1432.

Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I'd like to thank the gentleman for yielding. As I spoke earlier in regard to this bill in support of adoption and adoption week, certainly it's a great resolution that our colleague, Representative Porter from Nevada, brings forward. But I, too, wanted to take the opportunity in my few minutes to talk a little bit more about this energy situation. I think that the problem is that a lot of people in this country--and certainly it would appear that the leadership of this House, Ms. Pelosi, the Speaker, and the leadership of the Senate, the Majority Leader, Mr. Reid of Nevada--are completely convinced that fossil fuel is a bad thing and it needs to be stamped out, eliminated; kill that sucker dead as soon as possible. The quotes that I have heard, I think Senator Reid said, ``Fossil fuel,'' which includes, of course, coal and petroleum and natural gas, ``Fossil fuel is poison, and we need to get rid of all fossil fuel in the good old U.S.A. by the year 2020.'' Madam Speaker, when I asked during the August recess about whether or not she would come back and allow some drilling to obtain our own domestic sources of fossil fuel, she said, ``I want to save the planet.'' She hit her fist on the table and said again, for emphasis, ``I want to save the planet.'' A spokesperson for the Sierra Club, maybe it was the president of the Sierra Club, Madam Speaker, said it's a good thing that American people are now having to pay these astronomical prices for petroleum. In other words, the idea is this is such a horrible thing, this burning of coal, which, by the way, generates 65 percent of our electricity, this driving cars and trucks and using gasoline and diesel fuel in our trains. Literally, our transportation system couldn't function without fossil fuels. Now there may come a day, and hopefully there will come a day, when we will be able to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel and come up with some other alternatives, alternatives like wind and solar and bio- products and ethanol that absolutely give us great efficiency for our needs, electricity and transportation, and cause us absolutely no harm and that we have a tremendous abundance of all of these alternatives and renewables so that we're not dependent on anybody. That is kind of a euphoria, and hopefully it will one day occur. But we don't know for sure that it might not be opening up Pandora's box, Madam Speaker. We don't know that. While it's true that greenhouse gases probably do cause a little bit of global warming--

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise very forcibly in favor of this bill. I think that it is a good rule and a good underlying bill, and I'm proud to support it. I agree with my colleague, my former colleague on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Texas, when he says that this is an internal struggle within the Democratic majority, within the Democratic Party over this piece of legislation just as I think, Mr. Speaker, that they're engaged in an internal struggle over the issue of whether or not to allow drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf for both oil and natural gas and to utilize our own resources to bring down the price of energy and the price at the pump to the American people who are suffering so badly. In that particular legislation, of course, the leadership is in favor of, Mr. Speaker, of saving the planet. The leadership of the Senate is in favor of getting rid of all fossil fuels, which he characterizes as poison; the leader of Sierra Club says it would be a good thing if we had to pay $10 and $12 a gallon for gasoline at the pump. That's the leadership. But there are many, Mr. Speaker, in the Democratic majority rank and file, if you will, the Blue Dog Coalition, they're struggling. They're struggling very badly with that type of policy. And I think they would feel just as we do on this side of the aisle that in these dire economic times, it's time to save not the planet, but to save the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, I rise, as I say, in strong support of the amendment in the nature of a substitute the Rules Committee has made in order for this legislation. The right of an individual to keep and bear arms is one of the most basic rights provided to all Americans by our Bill of Rights. On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that very right for the residents of the Nation's capital in its ruling on the case of the District of Columbia v. Heller. The Court's 5-4 decision rightfully deemed the longstanding ban on handguns in the homes of law-abiding citizens in the District of Columbia to be unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker, in theory, the result of this ruling should have simply allowed Washington, DC, residents to have the same second amendment rights as the rest of this country. Unfortunately though, the D.C. City Council chose to ignore the will of the Supreme Court by passing an ordinance that continues to infringe upon the rights of individuals constitutionally protected. The strongly bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 6842 properly addresses the underlying issue to enforce the will of the Supreme Court. It does so by repealing the District of Columbia's current ban on semi-automatic pistols, which are the most commonly owned handguns in this country. It also repeals the needless requirement that a lawful firearm in the home must be either disassembled or bound by a trigger lock; these provisions undermining an individual's ability to provide for their own self-defense and the self-defense of their family and their children. Currently, there are no registered firearms dealers within the District of Columbia, so the amendment made in order will waive Federal law for D.C. residents and simply allow them to lawfully purchase a handgun either in the State of Virginia or in the State of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, it's imperative that we fully enforce the Supreme Court's rule and restore second amendment rights to residents of our Nation's capital. I strongly support the amendment in the nature of a substitute. I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment and, if it is adopted, the underlying bill.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Basically, what the problem here is the leadership on the Democratic side of the aisle are so focused on saving the planet that they are not going to save the United States of America when we are in this crisis over these oil prices and dependency on foreign countries. Nancy Pelosi herself, the Speaker of the House, said, ``I want to save the planet.'' ``I want to save the planet.'' The majority leader of the Senate said, ``All fossil fuel is poison and we need to get rid of it.'' The gentleman from the Sierra Club, Carl Pope, the executive director, said, ``We are better off without cheap oil, without cheap gas.'' We are better off without cheap gas? Tell that to the people in the 11th Congressional District back in Georgia when they are paying $4 and $5 a gallon. The bottom line, my colleagues, is what the Democrats have done is come in here with a farce, a hoax of an energy bill, and say, okay, we know the American people, 85 percent of them want an energy bill and they want to be able to drill.

Mr. GINGREY. I thank the gentleman. They want this, and they want it now. I just want to call my colleagues' attention to this Charlie Brown cartoon. This young man is Charlie Republican. This is Lucy Democrat. Lucy Democrat has teed up an energy bill that includes drilling, but when Charlie Brown goes to kick that field goal, she yanks it away. That is what the Democrat majority has done, and it is shameful, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, for the last 2 months we have been telling the Speaker and the Democratic majority that we need an all-of-the- above American Energy Act, and the Speaker has responded by saying any bill that includes drilling is a hoax. Well, Mr. Speaker, she has presented at 10 o'clock last night a 290- page hoax in regard to the drilling provision. It is absolutely a hoax. It gives absolutely no revenues to the States for any drilling between 50 and 100 miles. We already allow that off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, and you are going to expect these east coast States or California to let us drill with no revenue sharing? It ain't going to happen, and she knows it. Now, in regard to the energy proposals that we have made in the American Energy Act, we have 10 up here, and none of these are included in the Pelosi no energy bill. None of the above. NOTA. Think of the acronym, N-O-T-A, not an energy bill. If she would give us four of these; real offshore exploration, emission-free nuclear, new refinery capacity, who could say we don't need that, and lawsuit reform, so the extreme environmentalists don't destroy every opportunity. This is not an energy bill. NOTA, N-O-T-A.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Robert Sidney Clotfelter, who is celebrating his 95th birthday this week. Sidney Clotfelter is a life-long Georgian who has spent the majority of his 95 years enriching lives of citizens in the heart of my district-- Marietta, Georgia. Born in Fulton County, Georgia on September 14, 1913, Sidney was one of five children to Charles Thomas and Era Northcutt Clotfelter. Growing up in Marietta during the Great Depression, Sidney sold vegetables from the back of a Model T Ford to help make ends meet for his family. Sidney attended Marietta High School and graduated in 1932, where he was voted Best All-Around Senior. After high school, he attended a local business college, and then studied two years at Georgia Tech. During World War II, he served his country as an officer in the Army with the Corps of Engineers. Sidney has been an active member of the First Presbyterian Church since 1928, where he has served as Deacon and has been on the Property Committee for twenty years. He has owned and operated a number of businesses, including a contracting company for commercial and industrial construction. He built schools, churches and various commercial buildings around Marietta, and did construction work for Southern Bell and AT&T in every state in the Southeast. For several years he worked for Lockheed Martin in maintenance and construction. In 1992, he was honored with the Marietta High School Distinguished Alumni Award. Sidney Clotfelter has been a member of the Marietta Rotary Club since 1946 and served as the Club's president from 1962 to 1963. Sidney Clotfelter has contributed much to the communities of Marietta, Cobb County, and the entire state of Georgia during his 95 years. His donations of time, work and money to a wide variety of organizations and causes have been substantial, continual and selfless--often giving anonymously. He is a dedicated family man who is blessed to have all four of his children living near him on the property where he was raised. Sidney has spent thirty-two wonderful years married to Barbara Porter Clotfelter and, along with his four children, has eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in wishing Robert Sidney Clotfelter a happy and healthy 95th birthday and thanking him for a lifetime of service to his community.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding. I, too, want to rise in support of the amendment of Mr. Grijalva and Mr. Bishop in regard to this amendment. But, Mr. Chairman, I want to state rather emphatically that I rise to express concern that this committee, the Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, has jurisdiction over the miles and miles and hundreds if not thousands of miles of Outer Continental Shelf on both coasts of this country and also the Gulf of Mexico, this committee, the Natural Resources Committee chaired by Mr. Rahall, has jurisdiction, and yet here we are, Mr. Chairman, taking up the time of this body to delay the work that we clearly need to do in regard to a sound energy policy. And to think that we have 2 more weeks left before the majority leadership has decided that we are going to leave this place and not come back until the 111th Congress, ladies and gentlemen, that is next January. So starting from August 1 until the end of the year, that means we will have worked, what, 13 days in 5 months. That makes this congressional job, Mr. Chairman, a part-time job. If I had known that, I would go back home and deliver babies for 6 months out of the year. We ought to be doing an energy bill right now, this week. There is no excuse for it. And there was really no excuse, Mr. Chairman, for us adjourning and going home to our districts for whatever reason for 5 weeks. We could have stayed here and in 3 days, 5 days at the most, done exactly what Mr. Rahall just a few minutes ago on the floor of this Chamber said that you were going to do; you, the majority, were going to introduce a comprehensive bill allowing 99 percent of all United States energy resources to be utilized. What I have seen, Mr. Chairman, of this proposal, if it looks anything like what has been suggested on the Senate side, doesn't even come close to that. This is certainly not an all-of-the-above energy bill; it is almost none of the above. And, quite honestly, the acronym for that is the NOT-A bill, none-of-the-above act. It is a NOT-A energy act. But if the chairman is right in what he said, Mr. Chairman, that we are going to see an all-of-the-above energy bill, let's get with it. Let's get with it. There is no reason why the Committee on Energy and Commerce, with Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton who work very well together, very respected members on both sides of the aisle in this Chamber, we could not in a regular order go through the regular process, have an open rule, and give and take on both sides. Put the politics aside, and let's do what we should have done 6 weeks ago to bring relief to the American people in regard to these high gasoline prices.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Would the gentlelady yield for just one comment on that before you continue?

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the gentleman from Florida being with us tonight, and I thank him for that very intelligent discussion of ANWR and some of the statistics that he presented to us. Mr. Speaker, the 1.5 million barrels a day that Representative Keller was talking about is not an insignificant amount of oil, and if you add that to 2.5 million barrels a day that we could be getting from the Outer Continental Shelf and another 2.5 million barrels a day that we could be extracting from the shale out in the Midwest, those five Rocky Mountain States, you would have a doubling of the amount of domestic production of oil. We would go from 7 million barrels a day to about 14 million barrels a day, and of course, you know, right now we're importing 60 percent of what we use. So his discussion is very pertinent and very timely. Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I was talking about what our current Speaker, Ms. Pelosi, some of the quotes that she made back in 2006, and I want to share in this poster a few more with you. She said then, This leadership team will create the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history. Now, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that November 16, 2006. This is now, a recent quote. When we asked for an opportunity to have regular order on an energy bill coming through the Energy and Commerce Committee, a bill that was marked up by both Democrats and Republicans, majority and minority, and that would go through the amendment process and that maybe even some amendments submitted to the Rules Committee would be made in order so that we could have a fair and open discussion, when she was questioned about that, when reference to a quote back in 2006, Ms. Pelosi said, and this is a quote, I'm not giving the gavel to them. They will have to use their imagination as to how they can get a vote. Speaker Pelosi said that on August 3, 2008. I guess kind of like she's using her imagination to lower energy prices. And I think my next colleague who is going to speak will talk a little bit about the imagination and what her plan happens to be, but I'll show a couple of more slides before I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) who has been such a strong advocate on this issue. This is another quote from Ms. Pelosi. This call for drilling in areas that are protected--in other words, the Outer Continental Shelf and ANWR that the gentleman from Florida was just talking about--this call for drilling in areas that are protected is a hoax. It is an absolute hoax on the part of the Republicans and this administration. Another quote from Speaker Pelosi, If you don't agree with that, my colleagues, just call (202) 224-3121 and voice your concern about a quote like that. But listen to this. Look at this quote that Ms. Pelosi, our distinguished Speaker, gave on one of the national news networks a week or so ago when she was asked: ``Why not drill? Why not open up these areas?'' After all, the United States owns this source of fossil fuel, both natural gas and petroleum. Her quote then was: ``I'm trying to save the planet.'' I think she actually banged the table and repeated it. ``I'm trying to save the planet.'' Well, so is this guy Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. His quote was: ``We're better off without cheap oil. We're better off without cheap gas.'' So what they want to do is save the planet, but I fear, Mr. Speaker, that in the process they'll be destroying this country. With that, I am going to yield to my distinguished colleague from North Carolina, a champion who has been back on this floor for most of the August recess, not just for a day or two. In fact, she led the Republicans on several occasions, and she does such a great job. At this time, I'm honored to yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, Virginia Foxx.

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I thank you. We're going to spend our hour tonight on behalf of the minority party talking about energy, once again. This is the most pressing concern, I think, of our Nation right now in these tough economic times. But before I get started, I want to join with my colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, and pay tribute, Mr. Speaker, to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the gentlewoman from Ohio. I guess you can say that everything's been said that needs to be said, but not everybody has had an opportunity to say it. I can't improve upon the kind words that we've heard here over the last hour in regard to her life and what a great person she was. Mr. Speaker, I would like to mention one thing that I thought about a lot after hearing of her untimely and sad passing. She is the second member, Mr. Speaker, of the Ohio delegation to die in office during this 110th Congress. The first was a member on our side of the aisle-- again, very loved and respected--Paul Gillmor. Just like Ms. Jones, like Representative Jones, as bipartisan whenever he could be, as she was. And I went to his funeral in Columbus, Ohio, the great capital of Ohio. And the eulogies that were offered on behalf of Representative Gillmor, the very first one, Mr. Speaker, was offered by Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones. And it was very touching, very loving. You know, it's a sad thing, of course, her passing. But God has His plan, and we have our plans, but His plan takes precedent over everything we do. But she was a great Member of this body, and I join my colleagues in expressing my sincere sympathy to the family. Mr. Speaker, we are here finally back in session after a long 5-week absence, the so-called August recess. And, Mr. Speaker, I think you and all of my colleagues know that many Republican Members--we asked our Democratic colleagues to join us on this floor during the recess--in fact I think some 134 Republican Members--that's not 100 percent on our side, but it's getting darn close to 80, 85 percent--Members came back, some several days, took a break away from their families, from their constituents in this traditional August recess to come back here and say, you know, we really should not be at home. We should not be in our districts no matter how important the work there is. It's very important. Certainly, there is some politicking going on during election season. But I think, Mr. Speaker, most of my constituents told me, and I'm sure every Member of this body, that you need to get back up there and do the people's work. We're suffering, we're struggling with these high gas prices; our kids are going to be going back to school in a couple of weeks and the school bus is probably not going to be running, and it's a safety issue. And some school districts across the country are talking about cutting back to a 4-day school week. It's one thing for a 4-day work week, but a 4-day school week for our youngsters . . . So we were talking about that every day. Every day we had anywhere from 5 to 15 Republican Members in this Chamber. Now, the lights were dim, the air-conditioning was either too cold or it was too hot, the C-SPAN cameras were not running. These microphones--I'm hoarse today Mr. Speaker, because of straining my voice during that time. But it was an absolute wonderful experience. All of the people that were visiting the Nation's Capitol, their Capitol, the people's House, during that time, during those 5 weeks, we asked them if they wanted to come and have a unique opportunity to sit in our seats right here in this Chamber. Rarely do they get the chance to do that. It's not like sitting in the gallery. To actually come down and sit in the seats where the Members sit and debate and vote. And this Chamber was virtually full many of those days, a lot of times three-fourths full, half full. But untold numbers of American citizens had an opportunity. And they were not just Republicans, Mr. Speaker. They were Democrats, they were independents, they were voters. They were people that enjoyed listening to this discussion about the crisis that we're in and what, at least on our side of the aisle, we felt need to be done. We talked at length about the American Energy Act, the bill that was introduced by minority leader John Boehner of the great State of Ohio. Leader Boehner introduced the American Energy Act probably 2\1/2\ months ago, in fact. And it languished wherever it went to, probably the Energy and Commerce Committee, and never saw the light of day. And that bill, Mr. Speaker, is the all-of-the-above Energy Act. Yes, the cornerstone of the bill is to drill, to drill here in the United States or off of its Outer Continental Shelf, to drill now so that we lower these gas prices and get some relief to the great people of this country who are struggling so much right now economically. And yet the bill never had an opportunity to see the light of day. I have got a number of posters, Mr. Speaker, that I want to refer to, and I'm going to put that on the easel here for a minute so my colleagues can join with me in understanding some of the issues. Well, the first poster says, ``Nancy Pelosi, we're here and where are you?'' Well guess what, my colleagues. She's back. She's back. But it took 5 weeks to get her back, and during the time that we were begging her to come back and call this Congress into a special session, she had the power to do that. Madam Speaker was out, among other things, promoting her new book, ``Know Your Power.'' I'm sure Madam Speaker was referring to the power of a woman, and I think that's a good thing. I have three daughters and four grand-daughters, and I hope one day that they will have an opportunity to achieve what Madam Speaker's achieved. They obviously won't be the first female Speaker in the history of this country because she has that title now, but know her power, the power to convene the Congress and pass legislation. She, and only she, could do that, and yet she refused to come back even for a few days, even maybe for a week. She would still, as would the rest of us, have 4 weeks to work in our districts or go on vacation or whatever during that August recess. The ironic thing, Mr. Speaker, about this is Ms. Pelosi said in the elections of 2006--gee, it's been almost 2 years ago when the Democratic Party was the minority party. She said that, you know, this do-nothing Congress, these do-nothing Republicans, we need to replace them, and among other things, of course, she said that bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full and fair debate, consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute. Now, that is a direct quote by Speaker Pelosi back in 2006. Well, she has already pretty much said that any energy bill, Mr. Speaker, that comes to the floor is going to be basically with a closed rule. We, in the minority, are not going to have an opportunity to amend, and it's not going to look anything like the American Energy Act, the All-of-the-Above Act, which allows not just drilling here, drilling now, but it includes so many other things that we'll speak about during this hour. But before I go on, I wanted to take the opportunity--two of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, and I hope maybe some others will join us later in the hour, but the first colleague is the gentleman from Florida, and he should know a lot, a lot indeed, about the Outer Continental Shelf and what is being done and what's not being done. I yield at this time to my colleague from Florida, the honorable Ric Keller.

Mr. GINGREY. Representative Foxx, you requoted what the gentleman from the Sierra Club said. Again, he said, ``We're better off without cheap gas.'' Also, I want to point out, Mr. Speaker, that the leader of the Senate, the Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, said fossil fuel is poison, that fossil fuel is poison and that we need to completely rid ourselves of that by, I think, the year 2012. So I just wanted to point that out. I yield back to the gentlewoman.

Mr. GINGREY. I thank my colleague and friend from Florida. As I was saying, of course, Mr. Speaker, 15 days in the last 5 months, and you look at the schedule for this week, and there is unbelievably nothing, nothing on the agenda that has anything to do with energy. We are going to have two bills, one I guess on Thursday and one on Friday or maybe Wednesday and Thursday. One of them is the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 to reauthorize the National Environmental Education Act to help improve the quality of environmental education for primary and secondary school students. And then if you think that one's important, H.R. 3667, the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild and Scenic River Study Act of 2008, authorizes $300,000 for a study of a segment of the Missisquoi River in Vermont for potential designation as Wild and Scenic. Not only does H.R. 3667 not create more American energy, but it might actually prevent future energy exploration along the river like the siting of a liquefied natural gas plant as an example. And the other 2 days we are doing nothing but suspension bills, and those suspension bills are the ones that you have to have a two-thirds vote. There is little opposition to those bills, and yet they are given 20 minutes of debate on each side, 40 minutes on each of these suspension bills to make it look like we're doing something up here. Now, Mr. Speaker, I will say that the Democratic majority has done some things since they took control. In January, 2007, when the price of regular gasoline was $2.22, that date we congratulated the U.S. Santa Barbara soccer team. And then on September 5, when the price of regular had gone to $2.84, that was National Passport Month. February 6, 2008, when the price of regular had gone to $3.03, we were commending the Houston Dynamo soccer team. Then on May 14, 2008, the price of regular $3.77, that was National Train Day. Then on May 20, 2008, regular gasoline $3.84 a gallon, that was Great Cats and Rare Canids Act. Really important. On June 10, 2008, the price of regular $4.09 a gallon, the International Year of Sanitation bill. Really important. And then last but not least, June 17, 2008, when the price of regular had gotten up to $4.14, that was the Monkey Safety Act day. We were doing some things all right. We were really working hard up here. Well, look, the bottom line is this: We have a bill. The Republicans have a bill. We have a comprehensive bill. Yes, the cornerstone is ``Drill Here, Drill Now.'' But this is the all-of-the-above approach to energy independence, and that's what we have to have, not only for our domestic needs but for the security of this Nation. And I commend our nominee for President, John McCain, and our nominee for Vice President, Sarah Palin, because they understand we need to drill on the Outer Continental Shelf. And we will have a Vice President who is from an energy State and understands the importance of those resources that we own. So, Mr. Speaker, we want to do things in a bipartisan way. And in closing, I know we are getting very close to that hour, but in closing let me just say this: We can work together. We can work together. I know I spent a lot of time up here railing tonight against Speaker Pelosi, but I respect her. She is the Speaker of this House not just for the Democrats but also for the Republicans. We respect her. We respect the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the distinguished Mr. John Dingell from Michigan. He knows about this country and its needs. Why can't we get together, Mr. Dingell and Mr. Barton, and let's have a bill that is comprehensive, a little give and take on both sides of the aisle, because it's for the American people, and let's worry more about them than the next election. The next election, Mr. Speaker, will take care of itself. Let the people judge on that. I am going to tell you, when you go back home I am hearing from my constituents, and I know everybody in this House Chamber is hearing from their constituents. We can do it. It's time. It's time to do it, and it's time to do it now. I think it would be unconscionable if we go home 3 weeks from now and we have not done this. I am willing to stay. I am willing to stay, and 134, maybe even 194 Republicans, and hopefully some good, rock solid Democrats will stay with us this time until we get an energy bill done in a comprehensive, bipartisan way.

Mr. GINGREY

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.