Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 - Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
CONSUMER-FIRST ENERGY ACT OF 2008--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - June 10, 2008)
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, do we need a windfall profits tax? You bet we do. The American people are sick and tired of paying $4 for a gallon of gas. In the Northeast, we are worried about how people are going to stay warm in the winter, while at the same time ExxonMobil has made more profits than any company in the history of the world for the past 2 consecutive years, making $42 billion last year alone.
But ExxonMobil is not alone. In the first quarter of this year, BP announced a 63-percent increase in their profits. Shell's first-quarter profits jumped by 25 percent, to over $9 billion, and ConocoPhillips' profits increased by over 16 percent in the first quarter, to over $4 billion. As a matter of fact, the five largest oil companies in this country have made over $600 billion in profits since George W. Bush has been President. Do we need a windfall profits tax? You bet we do.
Let me say a word about what some of these oil companies are doing with these outrageous profits. In 2005, Lee Raymond, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, received a total retirement package of at least $398 million. Yes, you heard that right, $398 million in a retirement package for the former CEO of ExxonMobil. But he is not alone. Let us not just pick on ExxonMobil. In 2006, Ray Irani, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, received over $400 million in total compensation. Oh, yes, we don't need to do a windfall profits tax. These guys are just investing their money ever so significantly.
The situation is so absurd and the greed is so outrageous that oil company executives are not only giving themselves huge compensation packages in their lifetimes, but they have created a situation, if you can believe it, where they have carved out huge corporate payouts to their heirs if they die in office. I am not making this up. According to the Wall Street Journal, the family of Ray Irani, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, will get over $115 million if he dies while he is the CEO. The family of the CEO of Neighbors Industries, another oil company, will receive $288 million if he dies while he is the CEO.
If this were not so pathetic, if so many people all over our country were not hurting, it would be funny. But it is not funny, it is tragic, and we have to deal with this reality. Let me be clear, however. I believe oil companies should be allowed to make a reasonable profit, but they should not be allowed to rip off the American people at the gas pump, and that is why we need to pass a windfall profits tax, which is included in this legislation.
We should understand that a windfall profits tax alone is not going to solve all our problems. Since 1988, the oil and gas industry has spent over $616 million on lobbying, and since 1990, they have made over $213 million in campaign contributions. In other words, if this Congress is going to stand up to the oil companies, it is going to take a lot of courage. These people have enormous power, and they have spent an enormous amount of money on lobbying and campaign contributions. But I think we owe it to the American people to represent their interests rather than just the interests of big money.
Imposing a windfall profits tax is not the only thing we should be doing. We must address the growing reality that Wall Street investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase, and many hedge fund companies as well, are driving up the price of oil in the unregulated energy futures market. There are estimates that 25 to 50 percent of the $134-a-barrel cost of oil is attributable not to supply and demand, not to the cost of production, not to the decline in the dollar but to the unregulated speculation which is currently taking place on oil futures. That is an issue we must address as well, and this legislation begins to do that.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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