Louise Slaughter: “I appreciate that we are debating a rule, for a change, that provides Members of the House a chance to offer their ideas…”

“I appreciate that we are debating a rule, for a change, that provides Members of the House a chance to offer their ideas about how we can improve the country's energy policies. We had almost 90 amendments submitted to the Committee on Rules and we were granted 30 of them. I think we can still do better than that, but it sure is better than last week's closed rule on the bankruptcy bill. In fact, this rule even makes an amendment in order that I offered. I think it is the first one I have gotten in about 9 years, and I do want to tell my colleagues that I am happy to have it, because it will save the government a lot of money. I urge my colleagues to closely follow the debate we are having on this bill today and tomorrow because, in its current form, I believe it has the wrong priorities. At a time when oil companies are enjoying record profits, the bill gives billions of dollars in new subsidies. It gives 94 percent of its benefits to the oil and gas industry, and only 6 percent to conservation and renewable energy efforts, which are the areas that really make the country energy independent. This brand of taxpayer-funded corporate welfare is so off the mark that even President Bush, a former energy executive himself, recently stated that oil companies have all the incentives they need to keep on drilling in the form of $50 a barrel crude. Americans already are shelling out their hard-earned cash for the most expensive gasoline in our history.…”