Energy from Alaska: Jobs for America

ENERGY FROM ALASKA: JOBS FOR AMERICA

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise this morning to speak about a topic of great importance to our Nation; that is, the subject of jobs.

I know this subject is on the minds of my colleagues, and certainly on the minds of my constituents back home in Alaska, but really Americans throughout the country.

Since 2000, the American economy has been in a slump. In 2000, we were headed toward a recession. The stock market declined and the technology bubble burst. Then came September 11.

When terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, our economy suffered. And as we, as a country, mourned the loss of 3,000 innocent Americans, we again watched that stock market tumble and, really, the economy grind to a halt.
This administration has been working very hard not only to protect American people from terrorism but to revive, to reinvigorate our economy.

The approach that has been taken to cut Federal taxes, as we have done in Congress, the move the Federal Reserve Board has taken in cutting interest rates, those were the right things to do. But we can do so much more. We can and we must take positive steps to create good paying jobs for Americans.

On the floor recently many of my colleagues have been talking about the loss of jobs we have sustained over the last few years. The truth is, we have lost a lot of jobs. But I do not want to talk this morning about those jobs that we have lost. I want to look forward. I want to talk about the many jobs we can and should create for Americans who are out of work.
Currently, we have a House-Senate conference committee crafting a comprehensive Energy bill. In late July, in a show of great bipartisanship, the Senate passed an Energy bill to conference. There were 83 of my colleagues who supported me in this measure. Fourteen Senators voted against the bill.
Attempts have been made by both Republicans and Democrats to enact a national energy policy to reduce our country's dependence on fossil fuels, much of which comes from foreign countries, and to improve the existing energy infrastructure in the U.S.

Most people would agree we need a national energy policy to address our concerns, but there is widespread division as to how we go about it. These divisions can be partisan, they can be ideological, or they can be regional. I encourage the conferees working on the Energy bill to put these differences aside and reach an agreement that meets the energy needs of Americans. Of course, as we know, that is easier said than done. Developing a national energy policy is, to say the very least, difficult. It means many things to different people. Therein lies the problem with passage of a national energy policy.
My colleagues in the House represent diverse opposing interests. We all have diverse interests. We come to it from a different perspective, as we approach a national energy policy. So while it may be easy to get Members interested in talking about a national energy policy, when it actually comes to putting the pen to paper, it is much more difficult to garner support.
As part of a national energy policy, I have been advocating opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, as well as enacting a fiscal package to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48. My constituents are eager to offer our State's natural resources to the Nation to meet our shared energy needs.

I will continue to fight, as I have been, to get these provisions in an Energy bill. I do not apologize or make any excuses for what I have to do for my State. It is my job. But developing Alaska's energy resources not only benefits Alaskans but it benefits Americans.

I will explain how developing Alaska's resources will benefit all Americans. Before I do so, I will discuss what a comprehensive energy policy must contain, in my opinion. Some of my colleagues think the only thing I want in an Energy bill is ANWR and a natural gas pipeline. From my perspective, an energy policy that does not utilize the vast domestic energy reserves in Alaska is not comprehensive. We must provide for increased oil and gas production in order to meet the country's demand for energy. In my mind that is very clear. But there is more to an energy policy than that. The policy must address our renewable energy reserves.

At the same time we encourage domestic production of energy, we must promote energy efficiency and energy conservation.
We cannot have a comprehensive policy by doing just one or the other. We have to have both.

I am not going to talk this morning about energy dependence, technically recoverable barrels of oil, known cubic feet of gas, or the minimal impact that energy development in Alaska would have on the environment. My colleagues have heard those arguments time and time again. This morning I want to talk about jobs. I want to talk about how we can create good paying jobs for all Americans. I don't want a single man or woman in America who is willing to work and looking for work to be locked out of finding a job. Americans can't enjoy the American dream without a job. It is as simple as that.

We have passed legislation to stimulate the economy. We have passed legislation to cut taxes. But our work is not done until Americans have work.

In my State, traditionally we have had the highest unemployment among the States. According to the September 2003 seasonally adjusted unemployment rates, Alaska's unemployment rate overall is 7.8 percent. In many parts of my State, it is in the double digits, something that is hard for many of my colleagues to imagine. In our neighboring State of Washington, the unemployment rate is 7.6 percent. When Americans can't find work, our job in Congress is not done. We have to get to work to get people to work.

I don't know how much more clear I can be on this point. I want the men and women of this country who are searching for a job to be able to find them-good paying jobs, jobs with benefits such as retirement and health care, and jobs that can sustain a family.

How do we create these jobs? It is through the Energy bill. We ought to call this legislation the national jobs bill because that is what the Energy bill can be. If we do it right, this Energy bill can be the jobs bill.

I have said before that developing the energy resources in Alaska will create jobs. No one can deny that. If we open ANWR, if we build a natural gas pipeline, we create jobs. They are good paying jobs for Alaskans.

I have heard the reasons from Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate of why we should not open ANWR or why we cannot produce a fiscal package that would ensure construction of a natural gas pipeline. But I have to ask: Are they saying we can't create jobs or we should not create jobs? Are they saying we should not create good paying jobs for Americans? I don't think there is a Member of this body or the other body who would state that they oppose job creation.

So I say to my colleagues: Let's do the right thing. Let's protect our energy security, our economic security.

Let's create good paying jobs for Americans.

I direct my colleagues' attention to a report recently completed by the National Defense Council Foundation. This report is current. It is scheduled to go to print on October 30. The NDCF is a nonprofit think tank that studies defense and foreign affairs issues facing the United States. The experts at NDCF specialize in the study of low-intensity conflict, the drug war, and energy concerns. It is not affiliated with DOD or any part of the Federal Government. This report is entitled "Eliminating America's Achilles Heel, Our Addiction to Foreign Oil and How To Overcome It."

This report estimates the direct and indirect jobs that would be created by the development of the oil in ANWR and Alaska's natural gas reserves.

The NDCF estimates that opening ANWR would create 1,074,640 jobs throughout America. It is important to repeat that number: 1,074,640 jobs throughout America. That is opening ANWR. The NDCF also looked at how many jobs would be created by the construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline.

They estimate that it would create 1,135,778 direct and indirect jobs throughout the Nation. Again, 1,135,778 direct and indirect jobs would be created through the construction of an Alaskan natural gas pipeline.
So if we do both, that is 2.2 million jobs-good paying jobs-throughout the country. The estimate, according to the NDCF, is 2,210,418. If you were to ask anybody, certainly in this body, if you could pass a bill to create 2.2 million jobs, would you do it?
Of course you would.

The Energy bill is not just an answer to our energy problem; it is an answer to our economic problems. It is a jobs bill.

I need to talk numbers a little bit more because I am sure you are thinking, well, of course, Senator Murkowski is advocating this because it means good jobs for her constituents in the State of Alaska. That is absolutely true; there are going to be good jobs in my State of Alaska. In Alaska, according to the NDCF, Alaska resource development would generate 202,464 direct jobs and 131,917 indirect jobs. That is about 330,000 out of 2.2 million jobs.

So where are the rest of these jobs? They are spread literally throughout the country, all throughout the lower 48 States, and Hawaii and the District of Columbia. So Alaska is not the only State that benefits. There will be 315,435 direct and indirect jobs generated in California.

Let's look at what we might have in South Carolina for the Presiding Officer's edification. If both ANWR and the gas line were opened, there would be 12,115 direct and indirect jobs in the State of South Carolina. New York would see 93,356 jobs. Washington State would see 139,089 jobs.

Now, I am sure somebody is going to ask me-or perhaps target this study in an attempt to poke holes in the methodology-but the interesting news here is that many of the people who approve of the methodology for this study represent some of the largest environmental groups in the country. So this means that the environmental groups have signed off on the methodology used for this study that shows that more than 2.2 million new jobs would be created from ANWR and the natural gas pipeline.

I conclude that by adding that through the opening of Alaska's natural resources, we not only provide the energy that this country needs but again we provide jobs throughout the country-good paying jobs. I ask my colleagues, as we move forward with the Energy bill, to keep this in mind for the good of the country.