John Shimkus: “Congress wrote a massive energy bill in 1994 called the Energy Policy Act which outlined ways for the United States to…”

“Congress wrote a massive energy bill in 1994 called the Energy Policy Act which outlined ways for the United States to address our Nation's vulnerable reliance on foreign oil. Unfortunately, this statute has already run into trouble. The Department of Energy admits this in its own report to Congress stating, quote, ``Despite the many uncertainties, it preliminarily appears that the programs authorized by Congress in EPACT will fall substantially short of the year 2010 goal of 30 percent displacement.'' Mr. Speaker, the program does not work. I and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy) have introduced legislation to address this problem. Our legislation would allow fleet managers to use biodiesel blends to comply with the mandates of EPACT, without tax credits or incentives. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor H.R. 2568, the Energy Policy Act of 1997.”