John Shimkus

Mr. SHIMKUS

Mr. SHIMKUS. I would be honored to yield to my friend from Oregon.

Mr. SHIMKUS. I will debate this issue. This issue is about supply. I don't care who's responsible. This issue is about bringing more supply into the market. When a barrel costs $128 versus $58, this is what you get: You get gas prices that were at $2.33 when this Congress got sworn in to prices today that are $3.80 because we will not expand our supply. Now, if you add climate change, my friend from Oregon is a good friend of mine, and I know he's concerned about climate change and global warming and a cap-and-trade system, conservatively, that's going to add 50 cents to a gallon of gas to comply with climate change. So today the average price $3.80, plus 50 cents, $4.30. Now, I think yesterday in Chicago without the climate change gas tax increase, it was $4.50 a gallon. So the debate is when are we going to say that it's okay to do these things? When is it okay that we can take coal and turn it into liquid fuel? When is it okay to go off the Outer Continental Shelf and harvest those billions of barrels of oil, those trillions of cubic feet of natural gas? When is it going to be okay to say let's continue to move aggressively in cellulosic and biofuels, coal-to-liquid, OCS, wind, and solar? In 20 years, we're going to increase our electricity demand by 50 percent. We have to bring on more supply. We have to bring on more baseload supply because in rural America, which I represent, in over 30 counties it takes 2\1/2\ hours to drive from one part of my district to another. We don't have mass transit. We don't have light rail. In fact, it's an agricultural economy. It runs on big diesel trucks to haul the cattle, to haul the horses, to haul the hay. Diesel prices have doubled. And so because of that, what we're trying to say is it is time that we start addressing and bring this to the floor. The chairwoman herself said in her opening statement, We have brought policies here, this Congress, to lower the cost for small business. That's kind of like the Speaker's promise in 2006, We've got a plan to lower gas prices. It didn't happen. It went up.

Mr. SHIMKUS. I would be honored to yield.

Mr. SHIMKUS. It's a failure.

Mr. SHIMKUS. When your party will come to the floor and debate bringing more supply to the market, we can negotiate. But when you say, We're going to solve our 50-percent increase in demand on energy with solar and wind, it just doesn't pass the laugh test. We just can't get there. We've got to expand nuclear power. We've got to expand coal-fired power. We've got to turn coal into liquid fuels. We've got to bring on more supply. Yes, we can do it. I've got it here. In fact, Illinois is going to be a great wind power State.

Mr. SHIMKUS. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. SHIMKUS. And because I'm enjoying this type of debate, I will concede the dollar price. But let me tell you why, if we had our own resources, if we were drilling our own oil, isn't it criminal that we're relying on imported crude oil to fund our energy needs? Wouldn't it be better to use American dollars to drill on American soil in American land on American OCS? Then we wouldn't have to worry about the dollar, because an American dollar is an American dollar is an American dollar. And we wouldn't have to worry about our trade imbalances because we import all of this crude oil. Now, to point two, the speculators. Do you know why they're bidding the price up? Because we won't open supply. They're taking a position that I am going to bid this up, and you know what? Those dummies in Congress, they're not going to open up more supply. So what I hold is going to cost more in the future. It's a futures market. It's risk management. They're betting about our inability to go here. Billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. We won't go there. They're betting against us going there.

Mr. SHIMKUS. I'm from Southern Illinois. It's the Saudi Arabia of coal, 250 years worth. Fifty percent of our electricity that we generate today is by coal. We could also use that coal as the South Africans have done for 40 years. The Germans did it in World War II. Take that coal and turn it into liquid fuel. We have had four budget airlines go broke. Why did they go broke? They couldn't afford the price of aviation fuel. How did South African airlines fuel their jets? Coal-to-liquid technology. Taking South African coal, turning it into aviation jet fuel. That's what our competitive advantage is. Our advantage is using our natural resources. Not assuming that our natural resources are an environmental hazard. That's our policy. Don't go after our natural resources. It's an environmental hazard. Most countries say go after your natural resources; it makes you stronger. It makes you more competitive. It lowers the cost of doing business. It creates jobs. Look at the jobs that would be created here in southern Illinois. Build a coal mine, that creates jobs. Operate the coal mines, that creates jobs. Build a coal-to-liquid refinery, jobs. Operate the coal-to-liquid refinery, jobs. Build a pipeline, American jobs. Low-cost fuel, American jobs. For every dollar a barrel increase on aviation fuel, do you know how much it costs us taxpayers? $60 million just to fund the Air Force. So this policy of no supply hurts the taxpayers. And we have to pay for it. We had the authorization bill of the Coast Guard. For every dollar increase in diesel fuel, do you know what it cost the Coast Guard to operate and make sure our shores are protected? $24 million for every dollar increase.

Mr. SHIMKUS. Would the gentlelady yield?

Mr. SHIMKUS. It was $27 a barrel when this administration came in.

Mr. SHIMKUS. Do you know what it was?

Mr. SHIMKUS. No, it would not be a substantial size. It would be the size of Dulles Airport. It would be like putting on a football field a postage stamp. That's the perspective. That's what gets lost in this debate. We can do it. You know what? If you look at the OCS here, we do drill in the western gulf. Remember when Katrina went rolling up the gulf and we saw that big picture, tell me the environmental disaster that occurred with those derricks in the western gulf with Katrina rolling over the top of them. Can you name one? There wasn't one.

Mr. SHIMKUS. Do you know how big the Arctic Wildlife Refuge is?

Mr. SHIMKUS. No. Do you know how big it is?

Mr. SHIMKUS. You're referring to me. I would be happy to debate if you're going to bring my votes to the floor.

Mr. SHIMKUS. It is the size of the State of South Carolina. Do you know what the drilling platform is?

Mr. SHIMKUS. We're debating back and forth. Do you know how big the drilling platform would be?

Mr. SHIMKUS. I would be happy to yield.

Mr. SHIMKUS

Mr. SHIMKUS. I want to thank my colleague. Mr. Speaker, one of the best things we can do for the family farmer in this economy is to lower energy costs. And that's why I'm coming to the floor because I am excited about my colleague's previous question to bring on more supply. Now, I was pleased to see that my friends on the other side have accepted the supply debate, and we did that yesterday with great acclamation, saying that bringing in 70,000 barrels of crude oil onto the market would lower gasoline prices, your quote, not mine, between 5 cents to 25 cents. Well, just imagine if we brought a million barrels of crude oil onto our market, a million barrels from U.S. territory. And I think that's what my colleague is going to bring in the previous question, because 1\1/2\ years ago, the price of a barrel of crude oil was $58. Today the price of a barrel of crude oil is $125.09. I'm telling you the public is starting to wake up. I'm hearing it from soccer moms. I'm hearing it from labor individuals. They understand that the cost of energy is too high. The price of diesel has doubled. In an agricultural country, my farmers are trying to get their corn in. It's been really wet. And it's diesel fuel. Diesel fuel has doubled. We've got small local truckers going on strike because they can't afford to fill up the tractor-trailers because diesel costs are too high. Why are diesel costs too high? Because we won't open up any supply. I think the previous question will be an opportunity to open up supply on U.S. soil, and maybe we will get a chance to talk about opening up supply on the Outer Continental Shelf. You all agreed to it. Supply will lower prices, based upon our vote yesterday. But that was 70,000 barrels. Our challenge is to bring a million barrels, locally produced crude oil and natural gas. Because we can't sustain these high prices. We can't sustain them in the family farm. And that's why I'm excited to be here today to continue to raise this debate on the price of a barrel of crude oil. Another thing we could do is take our locally produced coal----

Mr. SHIMKUS. I want to thank my colleague for yielding. Because we want to highlight the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a coastal plain the size of South Carolina, a drilling platform the size of Dulles Airport. We want to address the Outer Continental Shelf, both on the east coast and the western seaboard and the eastern gulf. We want to address coal-to-liquid technology, where we take coal underneath the soil or on our upper plain, build a refinery, U.S. jobs; operate a coal mine, U.S. jobs; build a pipeline, U.S. jobs; and lower the cost for jet fuel so that we can have U.S. jobs.

Mr. SHIMKUS. And I would assume a way in which we would do that would be to bring in more supply?

Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my colleague in a little colloquy. I understand you're going to offer a previous question on this rule?

Mr. SHIMKUS

Mr. SHIMKUS. I always love following my friend from Massachusetts. You know, most countries view their resources as a strategic advantage. But we in this country in the majority view our resources as an environmental hazard. This motion to instruct is critical. If we can get a million barrels out of ANWR at today's prices, do you know how much money goes into the Federal Treasury? $192 billion. Go tell that to your Blue Dogs who are holding up emergency supplemental bills because of PAYGO. That's just ANWR. Let's talk about the other resources that we have. Here is the reality. It wasn't President Bush that promised in 2006 that the Democrats have a plan to lower gas prices. That was Speaker Pelosi. In fact, she made the same mistake today. She claimed numerous times that the ag bill would lower prices, gas prices. Now, I voted for it. I'm an ethanol guy. I'm a cellulosic guy. But if we don't bring more supply into the market, we're not going to lower prices. The demand from China and the demand from India and the demand from Europe just overwhelms us and is overwhelming the market. It was $58 when this majority came into power, $125 today. I haven't used this for a while, but the Pelosi Premium, $2.33 when you came into the majority, Speaker Pelosi said, We're going to lower gas prices. $3.77 today. Chairman Dingell is here. He's pulled this bill off the table, but climate change would add 50 cents a gallon. $4.20 is what we would be paying under climate change and current gas prices. What's the solution? The great Outer Continental Shelf. Billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. There are. You can't deny it. The eastern gulf, off-limits by appropriation bill. Not resources bill. It's an appropriation bill that puts this off-limits. It's the OCS off the western coast. Billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet; we can't have it. What would we do with the $192 billion from ANWR royalties? Let's go and take American coal, United Mine Worker jobs, let's build coal-to- liquid refineries, operating engineer, building-trade jobs. Let's build pipelines. Major organized labor jobs. And let's use it to lower the cost of jet fuel so we don't have the aviation industry going bankrupt. $192 billion would go a long way to do the solar, to do the wind power, to do everything we want to do. We want more supply, not less. Environmental resources is a national advantage for our country, but we won't take use of it.

Mr. SHIMKUS

Mr. SHIMKUS. Madam Speaker, we just took an interesting vote on the floor a few minutes ago, and that was to stop filling the SPR and make sure there's 70,000 barrels on the market. The projections by my friends on the other side is that this will affect the cost from 5 cents to 25 cents per gallon. Just think what putting a million barrels of crude oil into the market--and we can do that by bringing on more supply. I've been on the floor numerous times to talk about coal to liquid technologies. We have 250 years worth of coal in the Illinois coal basin alone. Turning that into liquid fuel. Of as great importance is the Outer Continental Shelf, billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, off-limits based upon policies enacted here in this House. And if 70,000 barrels will do 5 to 25 cents a gallon, just think what a million barrels of crude oil. We have one problem. We haven't built a refinery in 32 years.

Mr. SHIMKUS

Mr. SHIMKUS. Battling charge, that's what I like. Finally we get to talk about supply. Mr. Speaker, for 18 months I have been coming to the floor to talk about the importance of bringing more supply to our economy so that prices would go down. Finally we have it, and I want to thank you for making the point. If you want to lower the cost, you've got to bring on supply. It was $58 a barrel when your majority came into power, $58. What is it today? It's $126. What has it done? I'm glad my friend talked about gas prices. It wasn't George Bush who promised to lower gas prices. It was Speaker Pelosi in 2006, Steny Hoyer in 2006, Jim Clyburn in 2006, who said, ``We have a plan to lower gas prices.'' That's their quote. I have said it here 20 times here on this floor. ``We have a plan.'' They've got a plan all right. It's not to lower gas prices; it's to raise gas prices. What has happened to a gallon of gas? It was $2.33 when this majority came in. What is it today? It is $3.77. Now my colleague from Massachusetts brings on climate change for a 50 cent additional tax per gallon of gas, per the chairman of the Commerce Committee. We would be paying $4.27 for a gallon of gas. That's not the type of change we need. We need to bring on supply. I thank you for finally coming to the floor and recognizing that if we bring on just some barrels more supply, you guys say we're going to lower prices 5 cents to 25 cents. Well, let's multiply that by bringing on a million barrels of crude oil into our supply. Where do we get that? We can get billions of barrels of crude oil from coal-to-liquid technologies right in the heartland, right in Southern Illinois, Fischer-Tropsch Technology, established in the World War II generation, currently developed by a South African oil company. And one of my personal favorites is the Outer Continental Shelf. Billions of barrels of oil on the eastern seaboard, on the western seaboard, on the eastern gulf coast. Trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. What's your policy? Let's don't go there. Oh, yes, let's settle for a little bit of oil out of the SPR and claim great victory for lowering prices when we could have billions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas if we just went to the Outer Continental Shelf, if we just went to the eastern gulf, if we just used coal-to- liquid technologies, a bipartisan bill Congressman Boucher and I would like to take. We are the number one coal country in the world. So let's don't settle for a half step. This is good. We can do much better.