National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - July 31, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--ENERGY PRICE REDUCTION AND SECURITY ACT OF 2008

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am going to speak about a proposal that has been at the desk for a period of time and was put together by Senator Bingaman which deals in a very real way with the issues about which so many of our colleagues on the other side of the floor have talked.

First, it does increase domestic production by giving the Secretary of the Interior the authority to shorten lease terms and raise rental rates, requiring oil companies to comply with benchmarks. It would require the oil companies to drill rather than just hold property for decade after decade and not produce.

It would also bring down prices immediately by selling about 70 million barrels of high-quality light crude in the SPR, replacing it later with low-quality heavier crude.

Mr. President, 90 percent of sales would be invested in LIHEAP. Even more importantly, it reduces demand. First, building codes, 40 percent of our energy is used by cooling and heating buildings. Certain States have put in building codes for decades and dramatically reduced demand. We also have research for batteries, so we might have electric cars and many other provisions.

I cannot go into all of them because time is narrow. Why do my colleagues oppose something so rational? The bottom line is because they want to do what the oil companies want: give them record profits.

What do the oil companies do with those profits? Do they promote alternative energy? Absolutely not. Do they drill domestically? We are hearing all this talk about drill. Look what the oil companies do with their profits. They buy back stock. That is very good if you are a big shareholder in ExxonMobil. It is very bad if you are a homeowner heating your home or a commuter driving your car.

It does no one any good except a handful of people, mostly very well off, to raise ExxonMobil stock, raise Chevron stock, raise BP stock, and not put that money into production.

Our proposal doesn't do what the oil companies want, but it increases production, domestic production, and reduces demand, exactly the slogan that my colleagues are talking about on the other side of the aisle. But it does it in a way not that the oil companies want but that America wants.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of a bill authored by Senator Bingaman, the Energy Price Reduction and Security Act of 2008, which is at the desk; that the bill be read a third time, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record, as if read.

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