Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011
Floor Speech
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Mr. WELCH. Mr. Chairman, oil companies, of course, benefit from significant subsidies. This amendment would require that applicant oil companies for permits to drill would disclose as part of their application the taxpayer-provided subsidies that they enjoy. They would make that specific as to the leases for which they're seeking permission to drill.
Now, we've had a long debate, Mr. Chairman, in this body about the wisdom of subsidies to oil companies and we have a strong contingent in this body that favors those subsidies, making arguments that it's good for the economy, good for producing energy, and beneficial to the taxpayer. We have many in this body, myself among them, who believe that these subsidies are too rich and they're unnecessary.
When oil company profits are a trillion dollars in the past year, when the price of oil has been hovering between $95 and $113 a barrel, when the companies have enjoyed record profits this year, the question arises by me and by many as to whether or not it makes sense to ask the taxpayers to reach into their pockets and to provide subsidies to a mature industry--an important industry, but a mature industry and a very profitable industry with a very high-priced product where they can generate and are succeeding in generating significant profits for that industry.
This is not about whether they're doing good or they're doing bad--we have oil companies that are doing their job--but it is about whether taxpayers should be, at the very minimum, made explicitly aware as to how much it is they're being asked to subsidize oil companies when they seek these leases.
One of the challenges we have that has been a major point by the new majority is that we have a budget deficit and we've got to control spending. Spending is both on the direct appropriations side and what's called here the tax expenditure side. I think our constituents would know that as tax breaks. Why not take every action we can when it comes to spending and it comes to tax breaks to mobilize the awareness of the American people so they know what it is we're spending their money on, whether it's for a spending program or a tax break subsidy.
So this is about disclosure. It's about unleashing the power of knowledge, making it available to the American people so they can tell their representatives, You know what? We think that subsidy is a pretty good idea, or, You know what? We don't have to continue to be shelling out money for that subsidy. We want to go in a new direction.
So, Mr. Chairman, my amendment is about empowering the democratic objectives of this country.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. WELCH. I would just say this to my colleague: You and I disagree, obviously, on the subsidies. We don't disagree that the oil industry does provide good jobs to a lot of American families and a product that we need to keep our economy going. But there's a reasonable basis for disagreement about whether a particular subsidy has outlived its useful life. It is real money out of the pocket of the taxpayer.
While the suggestion is made that it would be tough to figure out what the subsidies are, these companies that enjoy these subsidies have accountants who scour the Tax Code to make certain that every legally available subsidy is one that they, in fact, do take. They actually owe that due diligence and that effort to their shareholders to make certain that they get maximum value for the shareholders, and that includes paying not a nickel more in taxes than they're legally required to pay by the rules that this House of Representatives sets.
So this is not about whether you're for or against the tax subsidies as they exist--we disagree on that--but it is about saying to the American taxpayer, when the company is filling out this application, after they've done their tax filings, which they do every year, they can specify what the benefit is they are getting courtesy of the United States taxpayer. That's really what this is about.
What is the problem with letting people know how their money is being spent?
I yield back the balance of my time.
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