Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011
Floor Speech
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AMENDMENT NO. 9 OFFERED BY MS. HOCHUL
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 9 printed in part A of House Report 112-111.
Ms. HOCHUL. I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 5, after line 8, add the following new subsection:
(c) Reporting.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress a report that details how the amendments made by this Act are projected to increase oil and gas production and lower energy prices for consumers.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 316, the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Hochul) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
Ms. HOCHUL. Mr. Chair, I stand here today to ask one simple question: How will the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011 reduce the cost of gasoline for consumers?
I think this is a fair question, one that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle should want the answer to.
The price of gasoline is soaring in our country, and across the Nation Americans are paying too much at the pump. The average gasoline right now is $3.63, up over a dollar from a year ago. Diesel, which our struggling farmers have to pay, has gone up a dollar per gallon in the same timeframe.
However, as I've stated on this floor before, the people in my district are paying much more than that. In the past, western New Yorkers have paid some of the highest gas prices in this Nation. Rising fuel prices have hurt our small businesses. They hurt our farms, and they hurt our families at a time when money is far too scarce. And that is why we must know how the Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011 will increase oil and gas production, and we need to know that this will decrease the cost of energy for our consumers.
Under this bill, American people are supposed to put their trust in the same oil companies that have consistently betrayed that trust. They tell us we need to drill more, and they tell us they need to get more permits on an expedited basis in order to do so.
Well, I agree. I agree we need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. But I'm asking for the proper oversight. How do we know that the permits we're issuing so oil companies can drill in our waters will result in that production of oil and gas? How do we know they simply won't secure permits and not choose to drill to keep oil and gas off the market, or even worse, just to drive up the price of oil by manipulating supply?
The amendment I'm offering today is quite simple and straightforward. In one line it gives the EPA administrator 60 days to submit a report dealing with how this bill will increase oil and gas production, while lowering the price of energy for consumers. It has nothing to do with the merits of the bill, which I'm not weighing in on at this time. But I think that asking for a report within 2 months of passing this act is not unreasonable, which is why I ask all my colleagues to join with me today in supporting this amendment.
Today the people back home in my district and all across this Nation are still fed up with high gas prices, and they want to know what we are going to do about these problems. This amendment, in a bipartisan way, can be a step toward finding that solution.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. HOCHUL. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from New York will be postponed.
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