Motion to Go to Conference on H.R. 3121, Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2008

Floor Speech

MOTION TO GO TO CONFERENCE ON H.R. 3121, FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2008

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Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

In attempting to respond to the gentleman on the other side of the aisle, he said, what have we been trying to do in terms of energy? Did we just discover it? Well, no, that is not the case. We have been trying to work on energy for the last number of years. Let me just give the gentleman some figures.

On ANWR exploration, every time it has been brought up in the last 6 or 7 years, 91 percent of the Republicans have supported it; 86 percent of the Democrats have voted against exploration in ANWR, a clear delineation between the two parties.

Coal-to-liquid. We are the Saudi Arabia of coal. We have more coal than anybody else in the world. So wouldn't it make sense to try and use new technology to take coal to liquid? Every time it has been brought up, 97 percent of the Republicans have supported it; 78 percent of the Democrats have opposed it. That is not pontificating. That is voting on the floor.

Oil shale exploration. Along with Canada, again, we are the Saudi Arabia of oil shale. Every time it has been brought up, 90 percent of the Republicans have voted for it; 86 percent of the Democrats have voted against it.

Outer Continental Shelf exploration. Every time it has been brought up, 81 percent of the Republicans have voted for it; 83 percent of the Democrats have opposed it.

The gentleman says, why aren't we drilling on some of those leases? Well, the definition of an idle lease is a lease where drilling has not yet occurred. That means you have to go through all of the existing red tape, such as permitting and environmental laws. The process can take years. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy on the other side of the aisle.

My friend on the other side of the aisle and his allies in the environmental community, what have they done? Environmental protests have increased by 718 percent over the last 7 years. Three million acres of currently leased land is tied up in courts, where it cannot be utilized.

You ask why they are not leasing? Because they can't, because they are subjected to lawsuits. Companies are unable to begin exploring on the land they have already leased. Fifty-two percent, 52 percent of the wells that have been drilled, exploratory wells offshore, have proved to be dry holes. That is why they are not producing on those.

When I was here 20 years ago during the Reagan administration serving in this House, the Reagan administration managed to lease 160 million acres of onshore land. Today only 50 million acres are leased. ANWR contains 10.4 billion barrels of oil. 100 percent closed. Offshore, 86 billion barrels of oil we believe are there by the U.S. Minerals and Management Service. 97 percent of it is closed off.

And the gentleman says we are pontificating. We are not pontificating. We are asking your side of the aisle to allow us to have votes on these issues. Allow us to have a vote on ANWR; allow us to have a vote on coal-to-liquid; allow us to have a vote on oil shale; allow us to have a vote on offshore drilling, Outer Continental Shelf exploration; allow us to have a vote on refinery capacity increases. That is not pontificating. That is saying allow the American people to have these particular supply-oriented responses to the energy crisis voted on on the floor.

Now, the gentleman may say, we just go home. I go home. I just got back from home. I talked to people in my district. You know what they said? Get back to Congress and vote to change the laws to allow supply.

Now, once again, unless your side of the aisle is capable, excuse me, Madam Speaker, unless the other side of the aisle is capable----

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. NEUGEBAUER. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.

Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, unless the other side of the aisle is capable of suspending the law of economics, the law of supply and demand, we have to start dealing with the supply side.

We have dealt with the demand side. The American people in the last several months have dropped their usage per capita of gasoline greater than they have at any time since we have kept records. The American people are responding in responsible ways. They are responding on the demand side. They are asking us to help them be able to respond on the supply side.

That is not pontificating. That is not politics. That is governance. We are asking for good governance. Allow us to have the chance to vote on these things on the floor, and then let the votes fall where they may. Maybe the gentleman from the other side of the aisle is correct in his assessment that the American people don't want more supply. I suspect he is wrong. The only way we will know is if we have a vote. Just give us a vote.

I thank the gentleman for the time.

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