Peter Welch

Mr. WELCH of Vermont

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, this bill is really a simple and straightforward opportunity for Congress to take an action taken by previous Presidents and Congresses to lower the price at the pump for the American consumer and for American businesses. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has over 700 million barrels of oil. That is an asset that was bought and paid for by the American taxpayer, it's an asset of the American taxpayer and citizen, and it's there to be used for the benefit of the American citizen and the American taxpayer. This legislation would direct that 10 percent of that reserve--10 percent only; 70 million barrels--could be released. And what we've seen in history is that in the three most previous instances where, with a stroke of a pen, the President has used that authority to release this asset belonging to the American people, it's resulted in a reduction in the price at the pump of gasoline from 33 percent to 18 percent to 9 percent. So it's a proven action that Presidents have taken to benefit the American consumer. It's also responsible. You know, 20 days ago, oil was over $140 a barrel. It's $124 a barrel today. And that means that when we are replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it's going to cost less for the American taxpayer. There is a reason why so many interested parties who are affected by the high price of oil strongly support this. The Air Transport Association, National Farmers Union, American Truck Association, League of Conservation Voters, many Republican Members of Congress: Zach Wamp, Rodney Alexander, Heather Wilson, Senator Collins, Senator Hutchison, Senator Isakson. And the reason is that whatever we are going to do in the long term to change our energy policy, why would we not take the immediate action in the short term that can provide immediate benefit to the American consumer and to American businesses? It just stands to reason that a responsible Congress is going to take those actions that can provide direct and immediate relief to the American consumer. That's what the release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will allow. Ten percent, not all of it. It's not robbing the savings bank. It's using an asset that belongs to the citizens of this country to provide help to the families of this country. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and the rule.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I would like to, with permission, recognize the chairman again, Mr. Markey, but only if there is no objection.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1367 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous materials into the Record.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, House Resolution 1367 provides that it shall be in order on the legislative day of Thursday, July 24, 2008, for the Speaker to entertain motions to suspend the rules relating to energy. Today, a barrel of oil costs $124. Last week it was $134. In June, it was over $140 a barrel. Congress is acting, and the market is reacting. Many factors, we know, contribute to the price of a barrel of oil: demand, supply, our economy, speculation, actions that Congress does or doesn't take. But make no mistake, the actions that this Congress has taken and will take are having an impact, a positive impact, to bring down the price of a barrel of oil. To just remind my colleagues what this Congress did, on May 13, we passed H.R. 6022, a bill I sponsored, to halt shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That bill was signed into law by the President. On June 26, we passed H.R. 6377 to squeeze speculation out of the market by directing that the CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, utilize its authority to better regulate the energy markets. On July 17, a strong majority of the House supported H.R. 6515, the DRILL Act. This bill would actually open up 22 million acres in Alaska for drilling and direct oil companies to either use the leases they have on the remaining 68 million acres, or lose them. They have the opportunity to increase production. We are asking them to do it. Every time the price of oil declines, consumers and businesses save money. Let me just give one example. The airline industry alone, it costs them $430 million every time the price of a barrel of oil goes up $1. In the past 20 days, the price of oil has come down nearly $20. That is approximately an $860 million savings for the airline industry and our traveling public. The energy crisis that we face is real, and it requires long-term action, but it also requires immediate action. And the actions that we can take to take the pressure off the price, we should take. Although the price has recently fallen, we have much more we can do, and we must today take this opportunity to provide the immediate relief that will occur by releasing 10 percent of the oil now in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve into the market. That would get relief to the American consuming public within 2 weeks. Incidentally, this is not an unprecedented action by Congress. It is smart policy, it is nimble policy. It has been done in the past by Republican and by Democratic Presidents. A few examples: on January 16, 1991, the first President Bush released fuel from the SPR. That was in conjunction with the start of the Gulf War. President Bush said this will send an important message to the American people that their $20 million investment in an emergency supply of crude oil has produced a system that can respond rapidly. A second time, September 22, 2000, President Clinton released 30 million barrels from the SPR into the market. President Clinton said, ``This is the right thing to do. It is good energy policy. It is good national security policy, and good family policy.'' The market responded immediately with prices dropping 18.7 percent. Incidentally, when the first President Bush did it, the price went down 33 percent. Our own President Bush, August 31, 2005, he authorized a drawdown of crude oil from the SPR. This was after Hurricane Katrina. Prices dropped 9.1 percent. So what we have within our grasp is the opportunity to take an action recently taken by three Presidents that immediately resulted in the reduction of the price of gasoline. In one case 9 percent, in another case 18 percent, and in a third case 33 percent. This is a time-tested action that will help Americans now address the crippling cost of fuel. Many of my colleagues have joined together urging the President to use his authority to release fuel from the SPR. The President can do that with a stroke of the pen. But if the President refuses to act, Congress must act. We know, incidentally, Madam Speaker, that this bill will not solve our energy problems. It is going to take a long-term change in our energy policies to release ourselves from our addiction to oil. Releasing fuel from the SPR is not a substitute for a long-term policy, but it is a necessary action and a practical action to provide immediate relief now by using a resource that does belong to the American people. Let's keep in mind that we do need a change in direction on our energy policy. Our country has 2 percent of the proven reserves of energy in the world. We are about 4 percent of the population, and we are consuming 25 percent of the world's energy. That is not sustainable. It is not good for our long-term security. We know we can do better by having a policy that includes higher mileage standards for our vehicles, higher energy efficiency standards, tax incentives for clean energy alternatives, better construction designs, and restoration of mass transit and rail. By doing that, we can create jobs, improve our environment, develop affordable energy, and strengthen our national security. But let's take the immediate short-term actions that are within our grasp to take that will provide immediate relief to our airline industry, to our businesses, and to our consumers and American families. Take the actions that we can take, and take them now. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts, the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Mr. Markey.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington, a member of the committee on Energy and Commerce and a leader on energy issues in Congress, Mr. Inslee. (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York, a man who serves on the select committee, Mr. Hall.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).

Mr. WELCH of Vermont

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman Reyes and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for their great work on this bill and for agreeing to include my amendment in the Manager's amendment to the bill. Mr. Chairman, my amendment recognizes that we have a responsibility to the Iraqis and Afghanis who have willingly put a target on their own backs by choosing to help our servicemen and women and our diplomats. These interpreters put themselves and their families in immense jeopardy every single day. Unfortunately, Congress has been shamefully slow in ensuring their safety. Only now are we beginning to make progress in providing the opportunity of resettlement to those whose lives are at risk because of their work for us. This has come about largely because of the advocacy of our own troops, who have benefited day in and day out from the services of these interpreters and who have come to call them their brothers. They are asking us to stand up for the people who have stood up for them. Meanwhile, our intelligence community faces a critical shortfall in linguists and cultural experts. Our national security is jeopardized daily by our inability to field the specialists necessary to translate and interpret valuable intelligence information. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is simple, it requires the Director of National Intelligence to assess whether some of the critical language needs in the intelligence community can be met by these Iraqi and Afghan interpreters who have already proven their loyalty through their service to our government. In doing so, my hope is that we could meet this urgent need for translators and interpreters in the intelligence community while providing meaningful employment to individuals who have risked their lives in service of our country. I thank Chairman Reyes and the Committee again for their support of my amendment, which is included in the Manager's amendment, and urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter).

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio, my colleague on the Rules Committee, Congresswoman Sutton.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and the resolution.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I am always here to accommodate my friend from Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would yield at this time 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kagen).

Mr. WELCH

Mr. WELCH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to make a brief remark. The number of bills that were referred to by my friend from Texas, none of those, not a single one of those bills, will get supply out of the ground and into the gas tank in the foreseeable future. The legislation that we are going to be considering today is about getting supply as quickly as possible by taking advantage of something that's available and ready to be leased next to a pipeline. Mr. Speaker, I would yield 3 minutes to my colleague the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes).

Mr. WELCH of Vermont

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, can you tell us the time allocation at this time?