Graves Calls on Congress to Get Back to Work
Press Release
Graves Calls on Congress to Get Back to Work
House Leadership Needs to Address Energy Crisis
U.S. Congressman Sam Graves returned to Washington today to call on Nancy Pelosi to bring Congress back into session and hold a vote on real energy legislation. Instead of staying in session to work on energy legislation that will break our dependence on foreign oil, Nancy Pelosi and the House Leadership voted to take a five week vacation.
Congressman Graves gave the following statement on the House floor:
"I am here today because the people of my district cannot afford to wait. Since the beginning of the 110th Congress, gas prices in Missouri have gone up by $1.40. That is an increase of nearly 70 percent in only 20 months. Congress needs to come back from vacation and do the work that the American people sent them here to do. We need to address the high cost of energy and finally pass meaningful energy legislation that will break our dependence on foreign oil.
"Because of Congress's inaction, everyday activities are now taking a big chunk out of the family budgetgetting the kids to school, getting to work, and driving to the store all cost more. And that means less money for families to put toward retirement, college education, or to make ends meet.
"Small businesses and family farmers in my district are getting squeezed as well. It is becoming harder for businesses just to keep the lights on, or for farmers to get their crops to market. Every extra dollar that is going into the gas tank is one less dollar that a small business has to hire a new employee, or a famer to invest in new equipment.
"It is time for Washington to get serious and pass a real energy policy. But lately it seems that all the House Leadership can do is pass do nothing bills and hope you don't notice that the price you pay for gas continues to climb.
"I think some of these folks in Congress are not listening to their constituents back home. If they are, they know how much these high gas prices are hurting real people. Instead of working to bring down the cost of energy, House Leadership votes to take a vacation.
"A vacation is something that many of my constituents cannot afford to take because of the high cost of fuel.
"Earlier this year, I was at American Central Trucking, which is a family owned trucking company in Liberty, Missouri. They were telling me that it costs between $800-$1000 every time they fill up the tanks on their trucks. In fact, with these out of control fuel prices they are now spending more on fuel than they are on wages and benefits for their employees.
"Now, something is seriously wrong when a small business is spending more on gas than they are on their employees. And to make matters worse, all that money that is being spent on fuel isn't going back into the American economy. That money is being sent overseas to line the pockets of tyrants and sheiks because of Congress's stubborn refusal to allow Americans to drill for American oil.
"Liberal environmental policy has shut down our oil production domestically, stopping our most productive oil fields from being explored by making them off limits permanently. It has also eliminated our ability to create additional refinery capacity.
"Twenty five years ago we were more energy independent, more self-reliant, and safer. In 1983, we produced 8.6 million barrels of oil a day and consumed 15 million barrels a day. Today, we only produce 5 million barrels of oil a day and consume over 20 million barrels per day. In other words, we are now almost 9 million barrels per day more dependent on foreign oil.
"On top of that, because of government red tape we have not built a new refinery in this country in over 30 years. It is stretching our refining capacity to the limit and affecting the price of gas. Right now we actually send oil over-seas to be refined because we lack the capacity to do it ourselves. If this doesn't defy common sense, I don't know what does.
"And it is not just our money that we are sending overseas every time we go to the pumpit is American jobs as well. We are off-shoring thousands of energy jobs as well as the energy itself, lining the pockets of tyrants and sheiks.
"A real energy policy will increase our domestic supplies, open up drilling in ANWR and off our coasts. A real energy policy will take advantage of the vast natural resources our nation holds. I personally just don't understand the liberals who are doing everything they can to stop us from going after the billions of barrels of oil we have just sitting there in Alaska or off the coastal shelf.
"The time for Congress to act is now. If Washington politicians continue to ignore our energy crisis, it will only get worse. Global demand for oil is growing every day. Oil consumption in China and India alone will grow by 240 million barrels this year and this is only expected to increase. It is simple supply and demand. Unless we go after our own American energy, our country and our economy will be held hostage by foreign oil.
"Now, there is no silver bullet. We need to invest in alternatives like ethanol and bio-diesel, wind power, and nuclear power. We also need to drill for American oil and build more refineries. But we need to act now.
"Missourians want solutions, not empty promises. It is time to get serious, address our energy crisis, and end our dependence of foreign oil.
"Madam Speaker, call Congress back to work. Missourians and all Americans need relief now."
Source