Charles W. Stenholm: “the German philosopher Hegel once wrote: ``What experience and history teach is this: that people and governments never…”

“the German philosopher Hegel once wrote: ``What experience and history teach is this: that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.'' Unfortunately, this has been the case with U.S. energy policy. Few people serving in this Congress do not remember the impact of the two oil crises in the 1970's. Millions of jobs were lost, and the economy experienced billions of dollars in lost production and income. The domestic energy industry, which has historically been a boom-or-bust industry, has never recovered from the drop in oil prices in the 1980's. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, domestic exploration and production declined, with the result that we are even more dependent than ever on foreign sources of energy. As we mark the 5-year anniversary of the Persian Gulf war, U.S. oil imports now approach 50 percent of domestic oil consumption and this is expected to reach 60 to 75 percent by 2010. While we currently have ready access to oil from Venezuela and Mexico, there are no certainties about what happens globally on down the line when it comes to Russian politics, the Iraqi oil embargo, and the future stability of the Middle East. Oil imports affect national security, American jobs, the balance of trade, interest rates, the stability of the dollar, and the economy.”