Sen. Chuck Grassley plans to deliver the following speech on the Senate floor this evening. It will be carried LIVE on C-SPAN 2.
Here is the text of his remarks on sky-high energy costs:
Mr. President, I rise today to express my frustration and anger with the Clinton/Gore administration's lack of an energy policy. Each weekend I travel back to my home state of Iowa. In recent weeks I have spent many hours explaining to my constituents why fuel prices are so high, and unfortunately, explaining why prices will likely rise past current levels. I've continually had the displeasure of looking truckers and farmers in the eye and telling them there is no relief in sight.
In my home state we are experiencing price levels not seen in a decade, but all I can tell my farmers and truckers is that it is likely going to get worse. Last week, the price of crude oil reached more than $37 a barrel, the highest price in 10 years. Natural gas is $5.10 per million Btu's, double over a year ago. Heating oil in Iowa is around $1.25 a gallon, up 40 cents from this time last year. And propane, a critical fuel which farmers use to dry grain, is up 55 percent since last year.
These increases are simply unacceptable. Iowans and the rest of the nation should not have been subjected to these price spikes.
Unfortunately, it is the Clinton/Gore administration's lack of an energy policy over the past 7½ years that have directly led to the situation we are facing today. Mr. President, just last week, Vice President Gore stated, and I quote: "I will work toward the day when we are free forever from the dominance of big oil and foreign oil."
Yet, since 1992, U.S. oil production is down 18 percent, the lowest level since 1954. At the same time, U.S. oil consumption has risen 14 percent. The result: U.S. dependence on foreign oil under the Clinton/Gore administration has increased 34 percent. We now depend on foreign oil cartels for 58 percent of our crude oil, compared to just 36 percent during the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973.
Some may be wondering how we got here. The answer is clear. This administration is opposed to the use of coal. Opposed to nuclear energy production. Opposed to hydroelectric dams. Opposed to new oil refineries; 36 have been closed, but none have been built in the past eight years. And, this administration is opposed to domestic oil and gas exploration and production. This administration opposes nearly every form of domestic energy production.
They do, however, support the use of clean, efficient, and domestically produced natural gas. Currently, 50 percent of American homes are heated with natural gas. In addition, 15 percent of our nation's electric power is generated by natural gas. And while demand for natural gas is expected to increase by 30 percent over the next decade, the administration has not provided the land access necessary to increase supply.
For example, federal lands in the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico, along with offshore areas in the Atlantic and the Pacific, contain the resources necessary to meet our current natural gas demand for nearly ten years. Unfortunately, this land and millions of acres of forest are either closed to exploration or effectively off limits. Simply put, our nation's producers can't meet demand without greater access to the resources God gave us.
Don't get me wrong, I am a strong supporter of alternative and renewable energy. I have been a leader in the Senate in promoting alternative energy sources as a way of protecting our environment and increasing our energy independence. My support for expanding the production of ethanol, wind and biomass energy has directly led to the increased use of these abundant renewable energy resources. But right now, these are only part of the solution.
Mr. President, the administration does not have a plan to deal with our current energy needs. I believe the solution is clear. It is time to support and encourage responsible resource development, using our best technology to protect our environment, to increase domestic energy production. It is time to make use of the vast resources this great country has to offer. Only then will we be free from our dependence on foreign oil.