House Ways and Means Committee member Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), in debate leading up to passage of H.R. 5351, which would transfer $18 billion of tax incentives from the oil and gas industry to renewable energy programs, by 236 to 182 votes on Feb. 27:
"A couple of years ago, Congress worried about too many jobs going overseas. We sat down and worked out a new tax code that said if you invest, produce, and create jobs here in America, we will give you a lower tax rate than if you do the same overseas.
"What this bill does is to single out one American industry, the energy industry, and says no, but not for you. We are going to treat your jobs like foreign jobs. We are going to treat your investments like foreign investments. We are going to treat you as foreign companies, just so we can take your money.
"Here we are, almost 2 million American energy jobs at risk, people who have mortgages, have children, are day-to-day doing good work providing us energy, all of a sudden they don't matter anymore. As a result, here we are, facing recession, job losses in America, Michigan, Ohio, and across this country, and we are willing to outsource our American jobs overseas for a political exercise.
"The result of this bill is there will be less investment in American energy, there will be less production of American energy, we will have more dependence on foreign oil, and we will have higher fuel prices.
"Make no mistake, politicians are shooting at Big Oil, but they are hitting American energy workers and they are hitting families in the pocketbook. Whenever there is no argument left, you will hear this: Exxon Mobil Corp. is making record profits. You will hear it over and over again.
"Well, politicians in Washington ought to hold a mirror up to find out why there are record profits. We have locked off reserves in the [Gulf of Mexico and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]. We have locked off oil shale. We are killing coal. We are chasing American energy deeper and deeper into costly offshore areas.
"More and more of the world's oil reserves are held in unstable governments: Russia, Venezuela, Iran. No wonder prices are so high. The world knows Americans won't take responsibility for its own energy needs, won't explore in stable governments like ourselves, so the American public is paying a political tax at the pump because we won't take responsibility for our own energy needs.
"What this Congress has done to lower fuel prices: It has allowed people to sue [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries], promoted longer-lasting light bulbs, and, to its credit, directed higher fuel mileage which is good for everyone but American automakers.
"The false choice today is punish American energy, or renewable energy. No. This country needs to do both. It needs to invest in America's traditional energy supply and go after new energy."