House Adopts Hensarling's Amendment That Jumpstarts Domestic Energy Development

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House Adopts Hensarling's Amendment That Jumpstarts Domestic Energy Development

The House adopted an amendment offered by U.S. Congressman Jeb Hensarling (TX-05) on Thursday that would allow the government to utilize American-made energy when purchasing fuel.

"Families across the U.S. are going to convenience stores and they have to decide: do I buy a gallon of milk or gallon of gas? I recently received a letter from a family in the Fifth District that said they have been forced to cancel their life insurance policies, cancel their cable, and scale down their automobile insurance," said Hensarling. "With Texans suffering due to the high cost of energy, Congress has a duty to increase the supply of American made energy."

A law passed in December of 2007, Section 526 of Public Law 110-140, prevents the federal government from procuring fuels produced from alternative sources such as tar sands, oil shale, or coal-to-liquids, which are all abundant in the United States and Canada. Because of Section 526, the federal government is unable to use its purchasing power to spur the development of fuels from alternative sources that will help begin to break America's dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Hensarling's amendment would prohibit the government from enforcing that ban at federal agencies funded by the bill.

"Current law limits our energy options, drives up the cost of fuel for government agencies, and makes us MORE dependent on foreign sources of oil, not less," said Hensarling.

"Allowing the government to develop alternative fuel sources will help jump start some alternative technologies and move America closer to energy independence and lower gas prices for American families."

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