Time for an Oil Change

TIME FOR AN OIL CHANGE -- (House of Representatives - May 15, 2008)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, Friday, President Bush will visit Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah and other key Saudi leaders. According to the White House, the President's visit will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of U.S.-Saudi relations.

Of course the underlying reason for the trip to Riyadh is to beg the Saudis to produce more oil. Faced with $4 a gallon gasoline--it was $3.99 this week in Ohio, and already exceeding over $4 in many parts of our country--a prospect which the President recently questioned would even happen, now the President is reduced to begging the Saudis, who literally have us over a barrel.

Record-high gasoline prices are hurting American families, American truckers and American businesses. The average price of gasoline has more than doubled since this President was placed in office. Fuel costs now account for 10 percent of the average family's budget. It is especially hard for people who have to drive to work, such as people in rural areas. It's hard for farmers and truckers who have seen diesel prices spiral way out of control.

And still we have no real leadership on a new energy policy from this White House, no policy for making our great Nation less dependent on undemocratic theocracies such as Saudi Arabia, and no policy to move away from the carbon-based economy and ease the pressure on our fragile planet. Under George W. Bush, America has gone backwards.

Last year, the United States imported 1.45 million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia every single day of the year. Can you imagine that? 530 million barrels in 1 year. In fact, since this President has taken office, we, as a country, are importing a billion more barrels a year, a billion more barrels a year. Less independent, more dependent.

It just so happens America is the world's number one importer of crude and Saudi Arabia is the world's number one exporter. Fourteen percent of our Nation's oil addiction is supplied just by dealers in Saudi Arabia. That doesn't count Kuwait and all the surrounding countries, like Bahrain, et cetera.

Last year, we imported $237 billion worth of crude oil, one-third of a trillion dollars. That's when the average price per barrel was $64. This year, that number will probably top $300 billion, and rising.

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For the first 3 months of this year, our crude oil imports totaled $76 billion, which is 63 percent above where it was a year ago. How much longer can this continue? I think the American people know how to answer that question: No more. They're saying no more.

This week, we will see another episode of this pitiful drama of the vice-grip relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The House of Bush, represented by our President, will beg the House of Saud, represented by King Abdullah, to increase production as a short-term fix for America's growing energy deficit.

We ought to be bringing those dollars back here at home and have the same kind of commitment as we did when we landed a man on the Moon. We can do this as a country, we just need better leadership.

At every step, this Democratic Congress has tried to make a difference. In the Price Gouging Prevention Act, the Renewable Energy Act, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Suspension Act, the Consumer Protection Act, and of course H.R. 6, to try to help launch energy independence for this country. But yesterday, our House passed a farm bill with a billion dollar title to bring in bioenergy as an important part of the solution for the future.

As this lame duck Presidency fades, hopefully the next President of the United States will negotiate in earnest and help America develop an agenda for our own independence, not continued subservience to human rights violators and undemocratic nations like Saudi Arabia.

This country is long overdue for a change, and it's definitely due for an oil change.

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