Pete Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 1 minute and 45 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett).

Mr. SESSIONS. I give the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I will go ahead and close with the understanding that the gentlewoman is at that point in her presentation, also. Seeing an affirmation, I will go ahead and close. Mr. Speaker, since taking control of this House, this Democrat Congress has totally neglected its responsibilities to address the domestic supply issues that have created the skyrocketing gas, diesel and energy costs that American families today are facing. Today, they are proving that they can move a bill--like this housing bill--quickly when they choose to do so. However, they do not believe that the energy crisis facing American families and businesses is important enough to treat it with the same level of seriousness. So today I urge my colleagues to vote with me to defeat the previous question so this House can finally consider real solutions to the rising energy costs in addition to this housing and GSE legislation. If the previous question is defeated, I will move to amend the rule to allow for additional consideration of H.R. 6566, the American Energy Act. This bill would increase the supply of American-made energy, improve conservation and efficiency, and promote new and expanded energy technologies to help lower the price at the pump and help reduce America's increasing costly and dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy. I encourage everyone that believes that a comprehensive solution to solving this energy crisis and achieving energy independence includes increasing the supply of American energy should vote to defeat this rule and the previous question. I ask unanimous consent to have the text of this amendment and extraneous material inserted in the Record prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, we have given lots of reasons about ways we can make this bill better. The ways we can make it better is to make sure that what we do today is carefully understood, that we do not pass on to future taxpayers billions of dollars, and to any administration the opportunity simply to hand out money without an understanding and an expectation of performance. Mr. Speaker, we've outlined our reasons today. We need to make sure that the Members of Congress who will vote today understand that opposing this bill and sending it back and making it better is the right thing to do. We also need to make sure that we take care of the American consumer who is having increasing problems paying their bills, not just their housing bills, but also at the gas pump. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 3 minutes to the favorite son of the Volunteer State, Mr. Duncan.

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield for such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California from the Rules Committee, our ranking member, Mr. Dreier. (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I think it's interesting, he says ``drill now,'' but we can't drill where the oil is. ANWR is 19 million acres. We need less acreage than is the size of one-ninth of Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. We don't need the 19 million acres. We need one- ninth the size of DFW International Airport, or only 2,000 acres. Oil companies would go drill in all these places, except they are dry holes. They want to drill where the oil is, and that's where the Republicans want to give them that opportunity. Mr. Speaker, how much time is left on both sides?

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule which is a cynical attempt to provide political cover for Members of this body who have chosen to elevate partisanship and politics above American consumers and our economy. Today, both everyday consumers and our national economy are suffering. Mr. Speaker, we are suffering because of this Democrat majority's mind-boggling unwillingness to increase the supply of domestically produced oil to reduce prices at the pump. That's why we are suffering. We are suffering because the policy here in this body in Washington, D.C., and you can read about it in articles in virtually every single paper across the country, and that is the leadership of this House of Representatives does not want to get the right thing done so consumers can have more energy and oil at the pump. For weeks now, Republicans have been unified in a commonsense and comprehensive approach to bringing down the price of gasoline for consumers, only to have every single one of those plans and votes on the floor of this House of Representatives ignored by the Democrat majority in favor of an agenda that prioritizes legislation like naming historical trails and gaming the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to prevent the development of increased energy production in New England alone. They are going out of their way to make sure that commonsense legislation that will help the free market and the energy companies, who should be our friends, to provide what consumers need and to produce a better economy. These priorities completely ignore the wishes of the American people and will do absolutely nothing to bring relief to millions of Americans who are really suffering as a result of high energy prices. I think that if the American people knew that the plan, or part of the plan, was to sue OPEC, they would laugh just like Members of this body have done. Rather than taking this opportunity to work in a constructive, bipartisan way, to address these domestic energy supply issues that have led to sky-high energy prices for consumers, today we are being asked outside of regular order, and with no opportunity for Members to offer their own good ideas to bring down the price of gasoline, to spend a whopping 40 minutes debating a fig-leaf legislation that wasn't even released to Republicans until late last night. Republicans have already put forth a number of smart, innovative ideas to bring down gas prices like H.R. 3089, the No More Excuses Energy Act of 2007, which would reduce the price of oil by opening new American refineries, investing in clean energy sources such as wind, nuclear, and captured carbon dioxide, and making available more American energy through environmentally sensitive exploration of the Arctic energy slope and America's deep sea reserves. But, of course, we know we can't get close to that. We also have H.R. 2279, the Expand American Refining Capacity on Closed Military Installations Act, which would reduce the price of oil by streamlining the refinery application process and by requiring the President to open at least three closed military installations for the purpose of setting new and reliable American refineries in place. H.R. 5656, which would reduce the price of oil by allowing the entire Federal Government, not just the Department of Defense, NASA and our intelligence community, to procure advanced alternative fuels derived from diverse sources such as oil shale, tar sands and coal-to-liquid technology. H.R. 2208, the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Act, which would reduce the price of oil by encouraging the use of clean coal-to-liquid technology by authorizing the Secretary of Energy to engage and enter into loan agreements with coal-to-liquid projects that produce innovative transportation and fuel; and, H.R. 2493, the Fuel Mandate Reduction Act, which would reduce the price of oil by removing fuel-blend requirements and onerous government mandates that contribute to unaffordable gasoline. In other words, red tape. Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership have the ability to bring each and every one of these already developed commonsense solutions up for a vote at any time, but they have chosen to ignore the American public in favor of a radical environmentalist agenda, and each one of these bills is also the subject of a discharge petition that would force their consideration. Every single Member of this body, even though they may agree or disagree with Speaker Pelosi on whatever her agenda might be, can take a commonsense approach and come down and sign a discharge petition that would bring this legislation to the floor of the House of Representatives. I encourage every single Member of this body who agrees that this country needs to increase its supply of safe and reliable American energy to force this Democrat leadership to finally act by joining me in signing each and every one of these. It's simple, by the way, for the new Members, as you hear this, all you have to do is walk down to the very front, sign these discharge petitions, and we could, this afternoon, be debating and voting on commonsense ideas to bring down the price of gasoline. Instead, this Democrat majority, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has chosen to bring up redundant legislation that has been overtaken by events before it can even be considered. The Bush administration has already announced that a new round of leases will be held for the National Petroleum Reserve, making today's restatement of current policy as useless as the restatement of the current ``use it or lose it,'' or, said another way, making energy companies drill dry holes. So, what we need is commonsense activities that would bring commonsense prices down for the American public. Perhaps the most galling of all is the inclusion of section 5 of today's legislation, which forces cumbersome requirements and restrictions on the construction of any new pipeline from Alaska to the rest of the United States simply on behalf of big labor bosses. While the inclusion of this requirement is no surprise coming from the Democrat majority that wants to take away a worker's right to a private ballot so that big labor bosses can more easily manipulate the outcomes, it is disappointing that this Democrat majority would blatantly include this requirement at a time when we can see that it should be addressed to make life easier for bringing down the cost of gasoline for all Americans. Today's bill is being brought forth by the Democrat leadership in a weak attempt and effort that does nothing more than restate current law and restate existing requirements that oil production on lands be developed while adding new restrictions to pipeline construction for the benefit of big labor bosses. I challenge anyone on either side of this aisle to produce a study other than the partisan and logically challenged report developed by the Democrat staff of the Natural Resources Committee that reapplying the so-called ``use it or lose it'' provision to the National Petroleum Reserve will create even one additional barrel of oil. This is a supply-side problem. This is a problem that the new Democrat majority has made happen, and this is a problem that the American people are asking each of us to solve. So, the Republican Party is here on the floor of the House of Representatives on behalf of the American people asking all the Members of this body to please understand what we are doing. I think it's a cynical rule that we are debating now, as well as the underlying legislation. We need real legislation. We need to put the American people first. We are not just some country, we are America, and we can win. Mr. Speaker, we reserve the balance of our time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, it seems like the Democrat Party has an argument with themselves on this one. They're arguing with themselves. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished second baseman from the Republican championship baseball team, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to let the gentleman from Vermont know that our time allocation is out of balance now, and I would appreciate if the gentleman would use up that time and make it more equitable between us. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, we have one additional speaker, and I believe that the gentleman from Vermont has about twice as much time as we have. So I would like to inquire about his opportunity to utilize more of his speakers or to ask where he is in this process.

Mr. SESSIONS. We reserve our time.

Mr. SESSIONS. We reserve our time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, English economist John Maynard Keynes said, ``When the facts change, sir, I change my mind. What do you do?'' Well, it's obvious today that the facts have changed, and our friends in the new majority don't change their thoughts or ideas to adjust to the facts of the case. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I'd like to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Fallin).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I will take from those words that the gentleman from Vermont has no further speakers and would be interested in me closing at this time. Mr. Speaker, since taking control of Congress in 2007, this Democrat Congress has totally neglected its responsibilities to do constructive things to address the domestic supply issues that have created today's skyrocketing gas prices, diesel prices, and energy costs that the American families are facing. And today, once again, they are proving to Americans that they have a failure of leadership and vision. Mr. Speaker, we'll see what happens when the August break comes around and our friends in the new Democrat majority head home to find out how much home fuel prices are going to spike with home heating fuel, and we will find out what happens in September when we come back from the break. So to avoid that, Mr. Speaker, today, I urge my colleagues to vote with me to defeat the previous question so this House can finally consider in July, as opposed to September, real solutions to the rising energy costs. If the previous question is defeated, I will move to amend the rule to allow for this House's consideration of H.R. 5984, H.R. 2208, H.R. 3089, H.R. 2493, H.R. 5656, and H.R. 2279. Mr. Speaker, these may not be household understood names of bills, but in September, the new Democrat majority, after spending August at break, is going to find out they should have done something, rather than doing nothing. Yesterday afternoon in the Rules Committee, hours before Republicans were even given a copy of today's legislation, the same amendment was defeated by the Democrat majority by a party-line vote. While I do not have a great deal of hope that this Democrat majority will provide a better outcome than the one provided by my Democrat Rules Committee colleagues, the vote on this previous question will allow every single Member of this body, especially those Members of the much- and often-reported bipartisan working group on drilling, to stand up for real solutions to this energy crisis--it's easier to do it in July than it will be in September--not just ineffective restatements of current policy that do absolutely nothing to increase the production of American energy for consumers. I encourage everyone that believes that a comprehensive solution to solving this energy crisis and achieving energy independence includes increasing the supply of American energy to join me and to defeat this rule and the previous question. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to place this motion and extraneous material in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, today, I have the honor of recognizing the 40th anniversary of Special Olympics. For four decades Special Olympics has been encouraging and empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become active and physically fit in athletics. Special Olympics have dedicated its efforts to provide productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. With 30 Olympic-type summer and winter sports, Special Olympics offer children and adults with intellectual disabilities year round training. Special Olympics currently serve 2.5 million people with intellectual disabilities in over 180 countries. Special Olympics give these individuals the gift of friendship and allow each of them to discover a talent of their own. One of Special Olympics main goals is to empower individuals with intellectual disabilities to realize their full potential and become productive members of their families and their communities. As the father of a young man with Down syndrome who competes in Special Olympics, I have learned firsthand the endearing and valuable contributions Special Olympics have on these individuals. Special Olympics develop improved physical fitness and motor skills, greater self-confidence and a more positive self-image. Additionally, Special Olympics allow for individuals to grow socially and mentally through their activities, while exhibiting endless enthusiasm and joy throughout the games. I am inspired by the dedication and enthusiasm for life that these individuals bring to Special Olympics. Once again, it is an honor to recognize the 40th anniversary of Special Olympics. Congratulations to all of the athletes who have competed over the past 40 years.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, we have heard about this rise in oil prices that is related to this meeting. And I would like to yield to the gentleman from Colorado to tell us about this meeting that took place and why he can make the accusation that George Bush and Dick Cheney as a result of this private meeting have raised oil prices. That meeting took place years ago. I would like to hear about this. I would yield to the gentleman.

Mr. SESSIONS. Reclaiming my time, it is obvious that the gentleman made a statement saying gas prices have risen because of this private meeting. And now the gentleman has not only no clue what took place in the meeting, as I don't either, but now makes the leap of assumption that 8 years later that gasoline is going to rise in price. The facts of the case are this. The facts of the case are that this Congress refuses to provide the energy companies, the oil companies, with what they need where they say the oil exists. And this Democrat Congress is refusing to help consumers. And since this Democrat Congress, this new Democratic Congress has taken over, prices have risen dramatically. There is not some plan that exists. There is no secret plan. There is no plan because the plan that is happening is what the Democrat plan is. It's working exactly as the Democratic Party wanted. Prices are rising significantly. And that is their plan. What I think would be disingenuous is to say, oh, my gosh, we wish prices would go down. That is just disingenuous if you don't back it up with facts of the case of how that could be done. To go to the emergency petroleum reserves would be a disaster. And it would be a disaster because that is there in an extreme national emergency. We've heard this morning, we can think of no reason why that would not be used. Well, there are people who can think of reasons. And it's called if a group of terrorists wiped out every tanker that was coming to the United States and our military did not have any energy or oil. That could be a good reason not to go to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, is the new Democrat majority does not intend to do anything to help the American consumer to get more oil supplies and thus reduce the price of gasoline.

Mr. SESSIONS. The fact of the matter is that this entire body, on virtually every single piece of legislation, sees where the energy and oil issue comes up because the Republican Party is trying to get the new Democrat majority to change the rules that are hamstringing consumers all across this country. And what we're trying to say, whether it be an appropriations bill up in Rules Committee or here today, is that the American consumers, the American people deserve and want this Congress to act. And all we hear are excuses. We hear about all this land that is available out there. There sure is. Oil companies don't want to drill dry holes. They want to drill where the oil is. And we are coming here to the floor, virtually every piece of legislation, every single committee in this House of Representatives is asking for the opportunity to be for the American consumer as opposed to some special interest group. And what we're told is that we need to change the way we do business and we need to be more like Europe. Well, being more like Europe is not an answer for America. We're not just a country. We're the greatest nation on the face of this world. And we need the ability--and the American people are asking all over this country for the new Democrat majority to quit what they're doing and allow our free enterprise system and the oil companies to bring to bear those oil resources that we have. And arguing all day every day that they have all that land is not the right answer. What is the right answer is we need to go offshore. And we need to be able to go to ANWR. The amount of the acreage is 19 million acres in ANWR. But all they need is 2,000 acres. They don't need the other 18\1/ 2\ million. They need that 2,000. It is one-ninth the size of DFW Airport, my airport that I land at every week. That is all we need. We will not rest our case.