Taunton River Wild and Scenic Designation

TAUNTON RIVER WILD AND SCENIC DESIGNATION -- (House of Representatives - July 16, 2008)

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Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, Americans are facing an energy crisis. High fuel costs are cutting short summer vacations, impacting family budgets, shuttering small businesses, increasing food costs and threatening the economic well-being of this country.

Recently, I learned of a small business in the rural part of my district that can't even receive shipments because the delivery trucks can no longer afford to drive all the way down to his shop.

This small shop owner, who operates on already tight margins, has to incur extra costs to meet the delivery truck closer into town. And this is just one of countless similar stories throughout America and throughout Virginia's First District.

The majority's response to this crisis has been to repeatedly deny the American people relief from skyrocketing fuel prices. Defying basic economics, they refuse to increase supply and encourage production of American-made energy.

The majority party decries the timeline of domestic drilling as too long, saying the American people won't see any relief for at least 5 to 10 years, as if it is somehow a bad thing for Congress to act with foresight in order to avert a deeper energy catastrophe in the near future.

In the face of ``all of the above'' energy policy offered by Republicans, one that includes American-made energy, encourages aggressive conservation and invests in and incentivizes clean, renewable energy, Democrats offer misdirected solutions like ``use it or lose it'' and recycle failed ideas of the past, like the windfall profits tax.

Today's consideration of H.R. 415 is another such mistake. Instead of restricting energy development in the name of political partisanship, we need to throw every option on the table. And I'm reminded of a story that a constituent told me about the Apollo 13 astronauts and how they solved problems where Mission Control took everything they had at their avail, every tool, every piece of equipment at their disposal, to survive and get those astronauts back to Earth. Today, Mr. Speaker, Congress is Mission Control, and we have an energy problem.

This bill abuses the definition of Wild and Scenic Rivers by designating the urban and heavily developed lower section of the Taunton River as wild and scenic. Not coincidentally it's on this lower section of the Taunton River that a liquefied natural gas facility has been proposed. And thus this bill is yet another roadblock to increasing our energy supply. Not only could this legislation encourage budget-busting heating bills, but it will also bury local shipbuilders in an avalanche of bureaucratic red tape. Shipbuilding facilities often need to be modified to meet job specifications. By further complicating the permitting process, this bill stymies these business' ability to meet their customers' needs.

Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the headline in the Fall River Herald News also reads about the impact on businesses where it says, ``scenic river designation could sink waterfront businesses,'' again, another negative impact on businesses.

Congress cannot afford to remain tone deaf to the suffering of our country. This motion to recommit returns our focus on what is truly important to the American people: Relief of skyrocketing energy prices. It prohibits restrictions on the development or management of energy infrastructure. And more importantly, it expands on the language offered by Representative Boyda to include sources of energy like clean-burning natural gas, which will play a critical role in our development of an ``all of the above'' energy policy.

I urge all Members to support this motion to recommit H.R. 415.

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