McCollum Supports Social Studies & Addresses Fannie and Freddie, Gas Prices
Op-Ed
McCollum Supports Social Studies & Addresses Fannie and Freddie, Gas Prices
Dear Friends:
It has been a very busy week in Congress. Confronting rising gas prices, the sagging economy, and the home mortgage crisis is our top priority in Washington. Minnesota families are feeling the pain caused by a White House that, for eight years, has sided with big corporate interests rather than responsibly regulating and holding industries accountable. A new era of government oversight and accountability has been started with this Congress and will put the needs of the American people ahead of corporate profits.
In the midst of Congressional action on energy, housing, and jump starting the economy, education continues to be a priority for me and for Minnesota families. This week, I spoke before social studies teachers from across the country and introduced legislation, H.R. 6525, to once again make history and civics education a priority in our schools. Given our rapidly changing world, and the need for our children to be competitive in the global economy, it is more important than ever to have firm grounding in the social sciences. History, civics, geography, and economics help students to understand the world and evoke critical thinking about the possibilities for making things better tomorrow.
It is imperative that we invest in preparing America's future leaders. Our students are the key to securing our energy future and developing a stable financial system that protects homeowners.
Sincerely,
Betty McCollum Signature
Congresswoman Betty McCollum
Serving Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District
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Securing America's Energy Future
Democrats in the House have a comprehensive energy strategy to lower energy costs, make America more energy independent, promote clean American renewable fuels, spur more efficient technology, and create millions of high-skilled green jobs.
While the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans try to use $4/gallon prices to take care of the big oil companies, Congressional Democrats are focused on what can be done to lower prices at the pump right now.
Action can be taken right now to reduce the price of gas right away - releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. There is nothing new or untested about releasing oil from the Reserve or deferring purchases during times of economic instability. Presidents Bush, Clinton George H.W. Bush have all released oil from the SPR.
On Thursday, Democrats took action on H.R. 6515, the Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands (DRILL) Act of 2008. Unfortunately, Republicans in the House defeated the bill, which was an important step towards securing the Nation's energy future. The DRILL Act would:
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Promote the responsible domestic production of oil and natural gas, particularly in 20 million acres of Alaska (National Petroleum Reserve AlaskaNPRA) that could produce 10.6 billion barrels of oil - more oil than is in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
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Incorporate the use it or lose it' legislation, which requires oil producers to drill on the leases they already have before asking the federal government for new ones.
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Institute a ban on the export of Alaskan oil so American oil is used here at home.
Provisions of the DRILL Act
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National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A): Mandates that the Bush Administration conduct annual lease sales for 5 years to ensure that the lands in the NPR-A are more rapidly leased for oil and gas production. Even though it has more oil than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (10.6 billion barrels vs. 10.4 billion barrels) and it has been open to drilling for 26 years, only four lease sales have been conducted since 1999, and only 14% of the NPR-A is leased. The bill will protect sensitive areas, such as around Teshekpuk Lake. Unlike ANWR, which is protected by law from drilling as an environmental preservation area, NPR-A is already designated for oil and gas production so it could occur more rapidly. Based on EIA projections, oil production in ANWR is four to six years behind that of the NPR-A.
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Extension of Oil and Gas Pipeline to the NPR-A: Requires the Transportation Secretary to facilitate the necessary pipeline infrastructure to bring the producing oil fields in NPR-A online. Right now, available pipelines reach to within 5 miles of NPR-A. The bill requires project labor agreements for both the NPR-A and Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline to provide good paying jobs.
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Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline: Requires the President to work with the Canadian government, state of Alaska, and oil and gas producers to facilitate construction of the pipeline. While this pipeline was proposed in 1976, and Congress authorized up to $18 billion in loan guarantees for this project in 2004, there has been no progress in building this critical energy infrastructure under the Bush Administration. The planned pipeline would have a daily capacity of 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or almost 7% of current U.S. consumption. Not only is this pipeline critical to our energy security -- transporting natural gas from Alaska to America's Midwest -- it will create good-paying American jobs and would be among the largest construction projects ever undertaken.
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Banning the export of Alaskan oil: Reinstates the Alaskan export ban that was in place from 1973 to 1995, imposed to ensure that American oil helps the American people. In 2000, about 7% of crude oil production from the Alaskan North Slope was exported to South Korea, Japan, and China.
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Use It or Lose It: Requires oil companies to diligently develop leases on federal lands (onshore and offshore) that they are already holding. If they cannot certify that they are doing so, they must give up the unused leases so that someone else can develop them - before obtaining any new leases.
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Fair Return on Production of Federal Oil and Gas Resources. Directs the Interior Secretary to take steps to ensure that federal oil and gas lease holders are making prompt and accurate royalty payments so that the owners of these lands, the American taxpayers, are fully reimbursed for their use.
Housing Crisis - Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac
Next week, the House will consider comprehensive housing foreclosure crisis legislation that will assist homeowners who are struggling and help strengthen the housing market.
This legislation will also include provisions to make assistance to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac available if necessary. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are important institutions that hold or guarantee nearly half of all mortgages in the United States and this Congress will work in a bipartisan way to protect homeowners and homebuyers and our larger economy.
Congress will soon pass comprehensive housing legislation that will include the Administration's proposals on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and provide additional affordable mortgage loan options, offer new refinancing opportunities for families at risk of foreclosure, increase the nation's stock of affordable rental housing, and expand homeownership opportunities for veterans living in high-cost areas.
McCollum Introduces Bill Supporting Social Studies Programs
"This legislation lays the foundation for producing more effective ways of teaching children the importance of civic responsibility and its historical context. It also offers educators a more frequent and effective analysis of how students are learning these important subjects, without imposing new requirements on schools."
[Source: Letter of support from the Center for Civic Education, Civic Mission of Schools, National Council for the Social Studies, National Education Association, National History Day]
This week, Congresswoman McCollum introduced the American History and Civics Achievement Act (H.R. 6525), which requires a national assessment of students in American history under the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) at least every 4 years and creates new 10-state pilots to assess history and civics under NAEP to provide quality information and comparable results across states for educators.
Recent results of the National Assessment of Education Programs for U.S. History and Civics show that while we are making progress, too many students do not know or understand the basic facts of our past. And equally disturbing, we know that as a result of under-funding, school districts across the country have reduced instruction in social studies subjects.
While the NAEP currently can assess social studies subjects, it is only "to the extent time and resources allow." And while on the schedule for assessment, social studies testing has recently been targeted for elimination due to funding challenges.
Congresswoman McCollum's bill would provide funding to ensure a quality assessment.
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