Jim McDermott

Mr. McDERMOTT

Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, can you tell me how much time I have?

Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, I move to table the appeal of the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, as I listened to my colleague from Louisiana, I would think that the end of the Western World as we have known it is about to descend upon us by these rather minor changes we are making in the tax policy of this country, by taking back subsidies to an oil industry that between January and September of 2006 has had $96 billion worth of profit reported. Now these are minor changes at the most and we know that. This is a down payment on the changes that must go on in this country. We know the American people have spoken on this issue. They are demanding change. That is why they voted the way they did in November. They saw what they got out of the White House and out of the Vice President's office, the records of which are still kept secret so we don't know what agreements were made with the oil companies at the beginning of this administration. I spoke earlier, and after I spoke I went out of the Chamber and I bumped into some people from the National Wildlife Federation, and they gave me 30,000 signatures of people who want this bill to pass, people who care about the environment. People who care about global warming, people who believe in national security, who believe in economic security, signed this in the last 3 weeks. The American people obviously are way ahead of us. Detroit didn't know what was going on. The Prius was on the street for 3 years in Tokyo, and they never saw it coming. When the Prius came to the United States, the waiting time was 18 months long. That is what we have to change. We have to change the thinking in this country about whether we are going to be addicted to oil forever or not. Now global warming is real. The average temperature in the ocean has gone up 1 degree worldwide. In the Northwest, it is up more than 2 degrees. And the changes that means for salmon spawning and for the ecology that goes on are under way. Yesterday's New York Times had a story about the melting of the glaciers in Greenland. There is no question about whether global warming is happening. The question is whether this Congress will respond and lead the way. Speaker Pelosi when she came in said she was going to do these things and set a new direction for this country. Today we are finishing up 100 hours of efforts in a whole series of areas, this being the toughest, this being the most complicated, the most costly, the one that is going to take us the most time. We can change the health care system in fairly short order if we want to. We can change college loans in fairly short order if we want to. But changing the way we use energy in this country needs to start today. No one says this bill is the be-all and end-all of what should happen, but we can see countries that have done it. In Brazil, they have gotten themselves off gasoline. They are using ethanol. We could do that. The Brazilians are not smarter than we are. They just decided as a country they were going to get off their addiction to oil. The Danes, when we dropped our support for the wind industry, picked up the technology and now at every place you go to see a windmill in this country, it is made in Denmark. Why is that? We started that in 1994 with some amendments supporting the wind industry, and then we let them expire. Last year, 2005, we suddenly woke up and said, Oh my God, the Danes are ahead of us. We better start again. There is a whole series of things that we should be doing if we are serious about what is going to be our future. Now, I have hoped that we would have a day like this when we would start to make the change. This is one small step. The Chinese say a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. This is the first step. Mr. Rahall has done an excellent job, and I want to congratulate the staff of the Ways and Means Committee, and particularly John Buckley whose idea this bill was. He came to me with the idea. It was not my idea. It was John Buckley's and congratulations to John.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I would remind my gentleman friend from Illinois that the United States is among the lowest countries in the world in terms of corporate taxes. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/3\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. McDERMOTT. The purpose is really this, to accelerate the use of clean domestic renewable energy and to promote energy efficient products and conservation; and furthermore, we want to spur research, development and deployment of clean renewable energy.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, could you tell us the amount of time that we have left?

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal). (Mr. NEAL Massachusetts asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek). (Mr. MEEK of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. We are here to take one small and bipartisan step toward making clean renewable energy a reality in America. And imagine my surprise, Big Oil doesn't think it is a good idea. But let's set the stage for this debate. Two years ago, Big Oil muscled their way into a corporate tax break they had never earned and didn't need. They are siphoning off $1 billion a year right out of the pockets of U.S. taxpayers, and they want it to last forever, right along with $10 billion in quarterly profits that they have been reporting. Their answer to everything is more drilling and more money. The President completely agrees. He thinks it is unfair of us to expect Big Oil to actually earn money. He would actually just give it to them. That is what they think; that is what the American people face. According to a report by the Department of Energy, it is expected that 86 percent of our energy supply will come from oil, coal, and natural gas in the year 2030. That is the same proportion of our energy consumption that carbon provides today. That same report states that we should expect oil, gas, and coal prices to continually climb. In other words, if this country does not pursue a radically different approach to energy, we can expect dirty air, more pain at the pump, and more reliance on foreign oil. The bill before us takes the vital first step in the pursuit of a new energy policy that looks to American innovation to provide renewable energy. This bill is a down payment, and only that, on a commitment to an energy policy that is fitting for the 21st century. The bill before us is fundamentally fair. In 2004, the Congress sought to help American manufacturers better compete in the global economy, but in doing so they provided a 10 percent reduction in the Federal taxes owed by Big Oil. That translates into a tax subsidy for over $1 billion a year, a real boondoggle. What is more, the Congress gave this subsidy to oil at a time when the industry was enjoying recordbreaking profits that were resulting from $60 a barrel oil. That is wrong. Today we take the first step back in the right direction. Today we're taking the taxpayer money and putting it to better use. Today the House of Representatives will decide that it's wiser to invest in renewable energy, innovation, and a future for our economy and our planet.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Schwartz).

Mr. McDERMOTT. The gentleman raises an interesting possibility, and the legislative process will move forward. There will be bills put into the Congress and this will be discussed. What we are doing today is creating a fund from which proposals can be funded.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time until the end of the debate.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) 1 minute.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis).

Mr. McDERMOTT. Yes. The bill before us directs some of the subsidies we currently give to Big Oil into a new fund which is created by this bill called the Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewables Reserve.

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

Mr. McDERMOTT

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today we are going to discuss energy and a new direction. The Speaker has set a vision to get us off our oil addiction. And in order to do that, we have got to find some money to begin to develop alternative energy sources. Now, the newspapers today are filled with stories about why we are still in Iraq. We are trying to get a law passed over there that puts in production sharing agreements with the big oil companies of this country. We are trying to get a hold of the Iraqis' oil. We want to take 70 percent of the profits at the beginning. Now, no Iraqi who has any nationalist feelings is going to sign that, and that is why we are still there 4 years later. We are till trying to get a hold of their oil and control it. This country has to take the beginning step today, with H.R. 6, to get us off this oil addiction. Alternative energy, whether you are talking solar or wind or biomass or bio diesel, all these are ways that Americans can use for energy and we don't have to live off the rest of the world. We get 3 percent of our oil from the United States. All the rest comes from outside. We are totally dependent on it.

Mr. McDERMOTT

Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, we each have our heroes. Gandhi is one of mine. Gandhi said, ``Be the change you want to see in the world.'' Those are words to live by and a philosophy to guide us in making laws that affect the American people. I have been elected as a subcommittee chairman in the new Congress, and I think the American people and my House colleagues deserve to hear something about my vision about that responsibility. I am elected to chair the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee. Human resources is really about America's safety net. This subcommittee has jurisdiction over many vital social and economic programs that support the American people. They are key portions of the Social Security Act, which include unemployment insurance, temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and programs to protect vulnerable and assist disadvantaged children. I don't think the present subcommittee name ``Human Resources'' really conveys the mission of that committee or the urgency, so we have decided to change the name to the Subcommittee on Economic Security and Family Support. In one sentence, here is my vision of what this subcommittee can do in service of the American people: We can transform common dreams into the common good, and we have a social responsibility and a moral imperative to do it. We should at least begin an effort to cut poverty by 50 percent, and I intend to try. Millions of Americans, many in families where both parents work, live in poverty today. That should be unacceptable in the richest nation in the world. The millions of children who go to bed hungry tonight, abandoned, abused, neglected, or just plain forgotten, it is a shame. We have got to remember. We have got to say to these children, ``You are not alone, and we will help.'' We can inspire innovations in child welfare for children in kinship care, for foster parents, for case workers, for family court workers, and countless other unsung heroes in America. ``We thank you for your service to the children and your communities and your family, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that your government does its part.'' I am not standing here as a Democrat. Good ideas don't begin with a political party label; good ideas begin with a commitment to something bigger than ourselves but involving all of us. It is the common good. No child should be alone in a country as compassionate as ours. We can start there, and then debate the ideas and programs that can deliver the common good. We can vow to cut poverty in half. Just 2 days ago, we stopped to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Let's not forget something Dr. King said: ``Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'' That applies to every nation on earth, including the United States. The richest nation on the earth is poorer for every American who lives in poverty. There is work to be done, and we cannot deny it. We can make America the nation where social and economic justice applies to everyone regardless of their economic circumstance. We admire the visionary work done by leaders who have come before us. These leaders believed we have an obligation to assist Americans who lose their job through no fault of their own. In the 21st century, changes wrought by a global marketplace should challenge us to reexamine and strengthen the support for American workers. Anyone who loses their job, especially an older worker, knows what I mean. America is a nation founded on the common good. It is the fundamental basis of this country, and every caring family, we take care of each other. The safety net committee I chair is woven out of the social fabric that created America. We have been handed the responsibility and an expectation to do good. It is far too convenient to bash the government and blame it for all our ills. In America, the people are the government. I think the people expect and deserve a government that acts in their name and on their behalf in a way that reflects the hope and promise America has meant for over two centuries. America's future is in our hands, and it is within our power to nurture, heal, and defend. That is my mission, and that is the mission of this Congress. The safety net is ours to weave and ours to protect. We must do it.