Jared Huffman: “Let me begin with the usual stipulations. This is the final amendment to the bill. It won't kill the bill or send it…”

“Let me begin with the usual stipulations. This is the final amendment to the bill. It won't kill the bill or send it back to committee. When this is adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended, so there is no procedural reason to oppose this motion to recommit. Let's talk about the substance. Now, we have heard a lot of debate this morning about the need to give Big Oil--the most profitable industry in the history of the world--yet another advantage. For years, Americans have been told that we have to ``drill, baby, drill.'' The theory that we always hear is that we need to extract every barrel of oil from every acre of American soil to keep gas prices low and to provide ``energy security.'' But as soon as American gas prices started to drop, the curtain was raised, and the truth was revealed. The real reason for ``drill, baby, drill,'' surprise, surprise, was to give Big Oil the chance to maximize their profits on the world market. It is not enough that they have been able to game the Tax Code for a century with billions of dollars of tax breaks not available to other taxpayers or businesses. It is not enough that they continue to enjoy access to our public lands and waters for oil drilling, even though they are no longer paying into the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the longstanding law that expired at the beginning of this month.…”