Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. FLORES. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the following new section:

Sec. 4__. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to enforce section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140; 42 U.S.C. 17142).

The CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. FLORES. I rise to offer my amendment, which would address another restrictive and misguided Federal regulation.

Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act prohibits Federal agencies from entering into contracts for the procurement of an alternative fuel unless its ``lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions'' are less than or equal to emissions from an equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources. Simply put, my amendment would stop the government from enforcing the ban on the U.S. Department of Agriculture and all other Federal agencies funded by the Ag appropriations bill.

The initial purpose of section 526 was to stifle the Defense Department's plans to buy and develop coal-based, or coal-to-liquids, jet fuels, based on the opinion of environmentalists that coal-based jet fuel produces more greenhouse gas emissions than traditional petroleum. Earlier this week, I offered my similar amendment to the MILCON-VA approps bill, and it passed this House by a voice vote.

My friend from Texas (Mr. Conaway) also had language added to the defense authorization bill to exempt the Defense Department from this burdensome regulation. We must ensure that our military becomes energy independent and can efficiently rely on domestic and more stable sources of fuel. But section 526's ban on fuel choice applies to all Federal agencies, not just the Defense Department. This is why I am offering this amendment again today.

While we hope the USDA is not going to be fueling up any jets any time soon, the underlying bill does allow for the purchase of more than 400 new passenger vehicles. The Department of Agriculture's choice on fuel to power these vehicles to provide service to our Nation's farmers and agricultural producers will be limited without my amendment.

The USDA should not be burdened with wasting its time studying fuel emissions when there's a simple fix, and that's not to restrict their fuel choices based on extreme environmental views, policies, and regulations like section 526.

Madam Chairman, section 526 makes our Nation more dependent on Middle Eastern oil. And stopping the impact of section 526 would help us promote American energy, improve the American economy, and create American jobs. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this commonsense amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. FLORES. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.

Let me correct some of the comments made by my friend from California. First of all, this is a typical example of the way that the Federal Government operates, where the left hand does something that's entirely different from the right hand. On one hand, the left hand says, We want to have alternative fuel sources available for our economy. The right hand says, But we can do it for everybody, except the agencies of the Federal Government.

Let me give you an example. Oil sands from Canada. Production of oil from oil sands in Canada could completely displace our use of Middle Eastern oil. And yet, we're trying to block in this bill the use of oil sands from Canada. Virtually all the fuel in the United States has oil from some oil sands in Canada blended in as fuel. That would mean all that fuel is off limits to the United States Government and, in particular with this bill, to the United States Department of Agriculture.

We should reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, not increase our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. And my amendment to eliminate the impact of section 526 reduces that dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Remember also, Madam Chairman, this amendment was passed by a voice vote for the MILCON-VA bill.

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