Ed Markey: “Mr. Speaker, this bill contains a provision which really is unrelated completely to the tax extenders. There are indeed…”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill contains a provision which really is unrelated completely to the tax extenders. There are indeed tax credits and other things, very good; but what they have decided to do is attach a rider to this bill, and that rider is a special sweetheart deal that changes the entire formula for the collection of royalties, that is, taxes, for the American people for oil and gas which is drilled for on public lands. Because of this change in formula, $170 billion is going to be transferred from the pockets of the American taxpayer of 46 States and sent to four States. In the course of the debate this afternoon within the hour, we will be considering an amendment, an amendment which will say that if any oil companies want to drill for the oil in the gulf that is going to be permitted under this new bill, that these companies must renegotiate the old leases which they received back in the 1990s, which, believe it or not, makes it possible for them to escape paying royalties on oil and gas drilled for on public lands in the United States.”