Washington, DC - The following are my remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding energy tax legislation, slightly revised for this forum.

The energy package recently passed by the House (H.R. 3221 and H.R. 2776) includes legislation passed by eleven House committees with the goals to address global warming and America's “energy independence.”

H.R. 3221 includes bills I supported in the Energy and Commerce Committee on which I serve. These bills will improve the nation's energy efficiency, develop a “smart” electricity grid, improve the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee program, increase the availability of renewable fuels, and encourage the development of advanced technology vehicles and components.

I do have reservations with Title VII, the Natural Resources Committee provisions, which would scale back and repeal several important provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that help encourage new domestic production of oil and natural gas.

While I have reservations with these provisions, I appreciate the efforts of House Leadership for bringing together several members of Congress that represent energy-producing districts to review and improve the legislation. While not perfect, we reduced agency timeframes to approve or reject drilling permits and coastal energy projects, as well as removed provisions that would delay energy corridors and eliminate the royalty-in-kind program.

While I supported H.R. 3221, I opposed an amendment mandating a federal Renewable Electricity Standard. We should encourage states to produce more electricity from renewable sources; the question is whether a “one-size-fits-all” federal mandate, which could raise electricity rates for Texas consumers, is the best way to accomplish this goal.

I opposed H.R. 2776, a $15 billion tax package, because it included additional provisions above those carefully negotiated in H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act. While it included important renewable energy provisions, we cannot keep taxing American's energy industry and expect to have adequate energy supplies.

The Energy Information Administration predicts that natural gas, oil, and coal will comprise approximately the same share of our total energy supply in 2030 that they did in 2005, even with new investments in renewable sources of energy.

This large increase in new taxes targeted at the United States energy industry could reduce our nation’s energy security by discouraging new domestic oil and gas production, discouraging new investments in refinery capacity, and actually tilting the competitive playing field for global energy resources against United States-based oil and gas companies.

As we move forward in this Congress, I hope the House of Representatives will address America's need to produce additional domestic energy, both conventional and renewable, to ensure the reliability and affordability of our Nation's critical energy supplies.