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| WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (IL05) released the following speech as delivered on the House floor in support of The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008. This landmark legislation will make significant new investments in renewable energy sources, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, help end our dependence on foreign oil and slash taxpayer funded subsidies to oil companies.
"Thank you Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee. "The American people do not deserve to pay the oil companies twice: once at the pump and once again on tax day. "There are record prices at the pump, and now we have record taxpayer subsidies for the big oil companies. As my mother used to say, ‘such a deal.’ "Exxon Mobil reported earning $40.6 billion in 2007 - the largest corporate profit in American history. "At the same time, oil prices topped $100 per barrel for the first time in history, and the New York Times reported this morning, that by spring, a gallon of gas could cost $4 per gallon. "Now, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with record profits –that’s not unseemly in my view. What’s unseemly is that the Congress continues to give companies that are making record profits $14 billion in taxpayer subsidies. That’s what’s unseemly, not the profits. They make whatever they need to make. "I just want to know when the free market principles are going to take over here. "At what point do the oil companies without taxpayer subsidies go out and enjoy the benefits of the free market? "At what point do we stop treating taxpayers as dumb money? That’s what I don’t understand. "I got it when oil’s at $15 or $25, energy companies need help. At $100 a barrel? You’ve got to enjoy the free market at some point here. "Now, here is the problem. We have wedded the country and the taxpayers to a 20th century energy source rather than investing in a 21st century energy source. Whether that’s wind, solar, or thermal. "We’ve got to stop asking the taxpayers to subsidize the past, and start asking to invest in the future. "And that’s exactly what the Chairman’s legislation does, and it’s time that we start to do that. "This would be a ‘hat trick’ for the United States. Usually there are winners and losers. If we did this, and got this to the President’s desk, and he had the courage to finally give up on his addiction to big oil, we would actually have something that’s good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for our foreign policy and our security interests. "That is what we are trying to do with this legislation. "Like what we did with the student loans, we stopped subsidizing the big banks and started helping middle class families. Like what we suggested on health care with the HMOs, stop subsidizing the HMOs and start helping the consumers. This legislation begins to end the taxpayer subsidies to big oil and invests in our future by making sure we have energy independence with wind, solar, and thermal." |
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