Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

Floor Speech

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND SECURITY ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - December 18, 2007)

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, for his kind words and for his tremendous leadership.

Because of his leadership and that of 10 other Members, Chairs of our committees of jurisdiction, working in a bipartisan way, we are able to bring earth-shattering change in terms of energy policy to the floor of the House. Here we are today. Here we are today to pass a bill that passed in the Senate 88-6; 88-6, very strong bipartisan support for this legislation.

Today in the House, we have the opportunity to give that same kind of validation and legitimacy to a new direction in energy security for America. It is about our national security. Admiral McGinn, when he spoke recently, said that our dependence on foreign oil presents a clear and present danger to our country. It is a matter of our national economy.

Congresswoman Velázquez, Chair of the Small Business Committee, and Congressman George Miller, with the Green Jobs Initiatives, can show a new way to build a new economy involving many more people and the new technologies that will be unleashed because of this legislation.

It's about protecting our environment. Congressman Rahall, Chairman Rahall and his Natural Resources Committee provided great leadership, as did the Chair of the Government Reform Committee, Mr. Waxman, who has long been a supporter of energy security and energy independence.

The list goes on: Mr. Oberstar, the greening of the Capitol and the Federal buildings across the country and what that will save, and many more initiatives that he has presented.

The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee provided the way to pay for it. That was rejected in the Senate, but we will revisit that issue in a manner that I think will receive strong bipartisan support.

The chairman of our select committee, Mr. Markey, did an excellent job in keeping this issue alive, as he has worked on it for many, many years.

What other Chairs? I'm looking around the room at our Chairs. I'll talk about them as we go along.

Mr. Bart Gordon, Chair of the Science and Technology Committee, is really in the forefront. So much of this bill comes out of his committee.

Mr. Speaker, the work that was done by the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Dingell, is breaking ground. It's groundbreaking in terms of what it will do in savings to the consumer, what it is doing in terms of protecting the environment, and, again, what it is doing to provide a new direction. And it does so in a way that breaks ground but does not leave it broken. It takes us to a new place, and I thank him for that leadership. It's a tremendous addition to this legislation.

And the United States Senate, two of their major provisions, renewable fuel portfolio, and the CAFE, were leadership issues, and I'm glad that we were able to work out those, reconcile the differences between the House and the Senate, again with the leadership of Mr. Dingell.

I think of us as being in a place where we're looking at the horizon, whether we're on a ship, or wherever we are, looking at a horizon. And this legislation takes us closer to that horizon. But as with all horizons, they keep getting farther away. But they lead us and reaching for it takes us to a whole new world. And that's what this legislation does.

My colleagues in this Chamber, our guests. Am I allowed to address them, Mr. Speaker? You are present at a moment of change, of real change, of rejecting the past, respecting the values of the past, but rejecting the insistence that we stay in the past and go into the future. This is about a choice between yesterday and tomorrow.

And while I would have liked to have had the full package that passed here with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, I salute this bill for what it does do and respect it for that, rather than judge it for what it does not, because we have plenty of time, interest, knowledge, know-how and bipartisanship to move forward to make even more change.

It's, as I said, a national security issue. It's an economic issue, an environmental issue and therefore a health issue. It is an energy issue, and it is a moral issue. It's a moral issue, and that's why we worked closely with the evangelical and faith-based communities, with scientists and faith-based, with business and environmentalists, with our friends in labor who support this legislation, to preserve God's beautiful legacy to us. It is His gift to us, and we have a moral responsibility to preserve it.

We have to think about our consumers every single day. That's who we represent. They are our bosses, and their well-being is our mission, to protect their well-being.

This legislation will save the average driver who goes up to the pump and has the shock that consumers are having, this legislation alone will save the average driver between $700 and $1,000 per year. It adds up to $22 billion in net annual consumer savings in the year 2020.

In order to reduce the price at the pump, the increasing of the fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon is historic. It's the first time in 32 years that this has happened.

So whether we're thinking as consumers and very personally about what this means in the lives of our constituents as they see their energy costs go up at the pump or in heating their homes at this Christmas season, or we're thinking of our national defense and our national economy, this is as personal as each and every one of our consumers. It is as global as the planet, and the opportunity provided to take us to a new horizon, to see a new world, a new era of possibility is here with us today. I hope, as a Christmas present to our constituents and, especially to the children, because it's about their future, that we would have very, very strong bipartisan support for this legislation. In the Senate, as I said, 88-6, a beautiful vote. I hope that we can replicate that in the House.

In any event, this great opportunity for us would not have been possible without the leadership of you, Mr. Chairman, so many of our chairmen, including the gentleman in the Chair, working from the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Obey, and so many others of us.

As I salute our chairmen for the intellect, the institutional memory, the legislative know-how that they brought to this process, I also want to give a special thank you to our freshman class. They came to this Congress to make change. They know how essential protecting our planet is. They know the concerns of their constituents. They're fresh out of the trenches, dealing with them. And without that freshman class, if I may call them freshmen, we would not have had the success that we have had today.

So this has been a collaboration on both sides of the aisle, from our most senior Members to our newest Members of Congress, to invigorate us, to encourage us to make the change that we're making today. I'm absolutely delighted about it. I can't wait until we join with the President of the United States when he signs this legislation into law and takes a step forward into the future.

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