Bill Delahunt

One hundred fifty thousand dollars. Not every 10 years. Not every 5 years. Not every year. Not every month. But every single day as long as he lives, $150,000. The pension package, according to newspaper reports, Madam Speaker, was $600…

The LIHEAP program has been around for some time now, and it has been a program that was introduced in a Democratic Congress, supported by Democratic presidents and adequately funded. Today, only 20 percent of those who are eligible based…

It gives them basically a discount on the purchase of their energy for heating their homes.

But stop for a minute and just see what the values are. We hear a lot about values. Here we are providing a wealthy program for big oil, and at the same time we are not adequately funding the so- called LIHEAP program, which provides…

This is oligopoly or a tendency towards monopoly, and this House has done nothing, Madam Speaker. There has not been any antitrust hearing as far as the oil companies are concerned, Madam Speaker. We have not had any hearings at all in the…

I encourage profit. Clearly profit is important. And it is what made this country unique in terms of our ability to have a high standard of living. But this is not free market. This is not free market. This is something different. This is…

Three years ago. Now, that is why I use the word ``obscene,'' because something is wrong with our free market system.

And my memory is that Exxon-Mobil, for the year, had a profit of $39 billion, that one company.

In the year 2002 had a combined profit of $34 billion. And then, of course, that was just the beginning.

Would you, for the sake of our conversation here, would you identify them, if you can read them from the chart?

So, in one year, you are telling me that it almost doubled, or did it? MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Not quite, not quite doubled. No. About a third more in profits.

Well, they did, but it didn't help. What they did is they put forth a welfare program for Big Oil. I mean, that is truly what they did.

I think it is important to review that for every year that this House of Representatives has been controlled by the Republican majority, during the summer months, from April 1 to September 30, the price of gasoline has dramatically…

Could I ask my friend from Florida just to repeat that. $34 billion, and that was all of the major oil companies? MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Yes.

Sixteen billion all together. MS. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Sixteen billion all together. Forgive me.

Well, how about $16 billion worth of subsidies for Big Oil? And this, of course, this is not for poor folk, because the big oil companies, Madam Speaker, they are doing remarkably well in this country. They are showing profits that only…

I was listening to the President today, and I thought it was interesting that for the first time that I can remember, this President indicated that maybe it was time to take away those tax breaks for big oil. I mean, that is just a…

Because the way we are going, we are going to bankrupt this United States of America.

30 seconds. I will let you get back to it. But you know what? I am just looking at that, Japan at $680 billion. Japan is actually subsidizing partially that tax cut, or that tax refund for the extremely wealthy in this country. I mean…

Let me thank you for asking those questions. And as you explained it, I was thinking that you found something rare, and that is somebody in this administration who gave you a straight answer.

That is Newt Gingrich, who I know because when I first came to Congress, he was the presiding officer of this branch. My colleague, Sheila Jackson-Lee, who preceded me in terms of service here in this branch, would also know and clearly…

As he said in this particular interview, if I can compose for a moment, here is an additional quote by the former Speaker of the Republican Congress. The reporter writes that he cited a series of blunders under Republican rule, from…

My friend, before we let Debbie go through that litany, and it is a long litany, let us also understand it is not just those of us here that recognize that. It is not just Democrats. It is Republicans. I will tell you I find it…

Again, let me repeat it. This is a quote of Mr. Gingrich that appeared in the Knight Ridder newspaper this past Friday. And this is his observation about what is occurring in this body over which he presided: ``They are seen by the country…

They prefer jobs at low wages. In essence, it is really that simple. Low-wage jobs are being produced by the policies of this administration and this Congress that is complicit. Complicit. And we know there has not been a single veto by…