Bernie Sanders

Mr. SANDERS

Mr. SANDERS. I do not know.

Mr. SANDERS. I am not all that familiar with tank farms. And in Albany, New York, it is my understanding is another close to 3 million barrel capacity, excess capacity.

Mr. SANDERS. Amerada Hess.

Mr. SANDERS. To the best of my understanding, there is a 5.75 million barrel capacity in New York Harbor.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, yes, it is.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, yes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, let me rephrase. My view is let us move short term and long term, but let us move short term, as well.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, then I ask the gentleman to work with us, not against us.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I sat down with the President, along with many other Members of the Northeast; and that is almost a unanimous request that came out of the Northeast, release the SPR. That was our opinion, and it is my opinion today.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, many of us thought that we should, and I am one of those who thought that we should. There is wild ovation from all over the Northeast.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, in fact, my friend will remember that the one time, to the best of my knowledge, that SPR oil was threatened to be released by President Bush had a very significant impact around the time of the Gulf War in terms of lowering oil prices.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I say to the gentleman, no, it is not. But this is what it will do. What it will do is send a message that the Government is prepared to act.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I do not have those facts in my pocket.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, what we are proposing is that 2 million barrels be available to be released at the discretion of any President, the President, when heating oil prices zoom up. And what experts tell us and what we know to be the fact is that that will have an impact on those prices and in fact lower them.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, that is correct.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman asked me why we did not build a new facility; and the answer is that there is excess capacity available in New York Harbor.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, it is not empty now, as I understand it, but they do have the capacity.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, yes.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, it is not 10 million barrels, as a matter of fact.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I would simply argue, and I make no pretense that this is going to solve all the energy problems in New England, but I think what the experts tell us is that it will help reduce sharp increases in home heating oil prices, which will save a lot of money for senior citizens who need those savings.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I do not argue with him that we need a long-term energy process.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, I would mention that New York State and Pennsylvania are also eligible to use the oil from the reserve in New York Harbor.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, because the capacity already exists in New York Harbor and it does not make sense to build new capacity when we already have existing capacity.

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, this tripartisan amendment is being supported by, among others, the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland), the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Wynn). It has strong bipartisan support. The purpose of this amendment is to provide $10 million for the establishment of a Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. Stand-alone legislation that I introduced back in February, calling for a 6.7 million barrel home heating oil reserve, garnered 98 cosponsors, including 24 Republicans and 27 Members who are not from the Northeast. In addition, and importantly, authorizing legislation that passed the House by an overwhelming vote of 416 to 8 included language to establish a home heating oil reserve in the Northeast. Not only does this amendment enjoy strong bipartisan support, it also has the backing of the Clinton administration. Let me just quote from a letter that I received yesterday from Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. ``The floor amendment you intend to offer to the Interior, Related Agencies appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001 would appropriate $10 million for the home heating oil reserve. As you are aware, the House recently passed H.R. 2884, reauthorizing the Energy Policy and Conservation Act with the added provision to create such a reserve. Your amendment, therefore, is consistent with both the President's proposal and the views expressed previously by the House and I support your amendment.'' That is from Bill Richardson. Mr. Chairman, it is obvious to everyone that we are experiencing an energy crisis in this country. The price of gasoline is skyrocketing. We are feeling that all over the country. This can only mean one thing. If we do not act forcefully now, next winter we are going to have a disaster on our hands that was worse than last winter, which was a real tragedy for millions of people. Mr. Chairman, we must make certain that the huge increases in home heating oil prices that we experienced last winter does not happen again. Not this winter, not any winter. Mr. Chairman, let me be clear that this is not just an issue that affects the northeast. A home heating oil reserve would also provide positive benefits to the entire country. Since diesel and jet fuel can be used as a substitute for heating oil, industry experts believe that if a heating oil reserve were in place, not only would the price of heating oil be reduced, but diesel and jet fuel prices would also be reduced all over the country. Mr. Chairman, winter is not a natural disaster. We in Vermont know, and I think the rest of the country knows, that it takes place every year. Yet we continue to be unprepared for a severely cold winter. In fact, fuel oil shortages have taken place in the Northeast about once every 3 years. Most recently these shortages have occurred during the winters of 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. Enough is enough. Mr. Chairman, the offset for this amendment is a pretty conservative one, and it is a simple one. It should not meet much controversy. If this amendment passes, $10 million of the $157 million already in the bill for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be used for the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. So this is more of an accounting transfer than a real significant offset. We are taking money out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. There is $157 million in it. We are moving $10 million over for the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. Mr. Chairman, this is a sensible approach to protect millions of people who really were hurt last winter and in the past by skyrocketing home heating oil costs, and I would hope that we can win strong bipartisan support for it.