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Engel Statement on Democrats' Energy Bill
Thursday January 18, 2007Congressman Engel Statement on H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act (WATCH VIDEO)
ENGEL: I thank my distinguished friend, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, for giving me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation. When we passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress put the interests of Big Oil ahead of enacting a comprehensive energy bill for the American people.
Today we begin to right that wrong by repealing $14 billion in giveaways in tax loopholes to Big Oil. We are also repealing a provision which suspended the royalty fees from oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico. We simply cannot let these companies off the hook for reaping record profits without paying their fair share.
We will then invest these funds in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency and create a Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve which will also promote new energy technologies and improve energy conservation. The 110th Congress presents us with a new opportunity to advance forward-thinking 21st century energy policy. As a matter of national security we must wean ourselves off of foreign oil.
I will be reintroducing the bipartisan Engel/Kingston DRIVE Act, also known as the Fuel Choices for American Security Act. I hope we pass that bill as well.