mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from new york ( mr. bishop ) xz4000311 for yielding me this time . 
i thank the gentleman from new york for his leadership on this issue , and i am proud to follow his leadership on this amendment . 
last thursday , president bush addressed the american society of newspaper editors . 
here is what he said : `` i will tell you , with $ 55 a barrel oil , we do not need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore . 
there are plenty of incentives . 
what we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent . 
it is really important , '' said the president . 
`` it is an important part of our economic security and it is an important part of our national security. '' those were the president 's words last week . 
but the president then went on to call upon congress to pass the republican energy bill , a bill replete with a rich assortment of tax and deregulatory incentives for the oil and gas companies to explore , even though they are essentially already drowning in windfall profits . 
the price of oil has doubled essentially from $ 25 a barrel to more than $ 50 a barrel . 
that is all extra cash in the oil companies ' pockets . 
so the president , i think , has to rely upon his own energy department , because his own energy department has acknowledged that this bill that we are debating would result in only negligible changes to overall demand , production , and imports , a bill that the energy department acknowledges will actually increase gasoline prices at the pump between 3.5 and 8 cents a gallon . 
the bill will increase the price of gasoline . 
so even though the president says the oil companies do not need incentives to drill when prices are so high , in this bill we are providing more than $ 3 billion in tax incentives to big oil . 
this is just at the point at which all of their profits are doubling . 
we are giving them tax breaks . 
it is absolutely unbelievable . 
so what the gentleman from new york ( mr. bishop ) xz4000311 has done is put out a series of provisions . 
if members do not want to support increasing fuel economy standards for suvs and automobiles so we can take on opec , what we have is another series of alternatives that can be engaged in which are much less draconian , but will at least give us some improvement in the way this country interrelates with gas , oil , and other energy sources . 
if members feel that the boehlert-markey amendment is too radical , this is your cup of tea . 
i thank the gentleman from new york ( mr. bishop ) xz4000311 for his help on this amendment . 
mr. chairman , i rise in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from new york ( mr. bishop ) and i am pleased to join as a cosponsor of this amendment . 
last thursday , the president addressed the american society of newspaper editors . 
he said : i will tell you with $ 55 oil we do n't need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore . 
there are plenty of incentives . 
what we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent . 
it 's really important . 
it 's an important part of our economic security , and it 's an important part of our national security . 
but the president then went on to call upon congress to pass the republican energy bill -- a bill replete with a rich assortment of tax and deregulatory `` incentives '' for the oil and gas companies to explore , a bill that the president 's own energy department has acknowledged would result in only `` negligible '' changes to overall demand , production and imports , a bill that the energy department acknowledges will actually increase gasoline prices at the pump by between 3.5 and 8 cents a gallon . 
so , even though the president says the oil companies do n't need `` incentives '' to drill when prices are so high , we are providing more than $ 3 billion in tax incentives to big oil . 
we are giving them `` royalty relief '' so they do n't have to pay the public a fair price for drilling on public lands . 
that is what h.r. 6 offers up as a solution to high oil and gasoline prices . 
this bill says let 's give more tax breaks to oil and gas companies that even a president who was a former texas oil man has said are not needed . 
this bill says let 's enact proposals that would actullay increase the price that consumers pay to fill up their gas tanks . 
that is no solution . 
the amendment being offered by the gentleman from new york and myself takes a different approach . 
while i continue to believe that the real solution to the current high gas prices is increased efficiency , the house has already debated that issue . 
this amendment says , if you are n't willing to take the step of mandating higher fuel efficiency standards , are you at least will to take some more modest steps ? 
on the issue of gas prices , our amendment says , when oil prices are at record highs , let 's stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve . 
let 's return to the principle of considering the impact of oil and gas prices and the economy when we are making decisions about whether and when to fill the reserve . 
are you at least willing to do that ? 
at the same time , our amendment expresses the sense of congress that the federal trade commission and the justice department should exercise vigorous oversight of our nation 's oil and gas markets to guard against price gouging or market manipulation . 
it expresses the sense of congress that the president should put pressure on opec and non-opec oil producers to increase oil production to help bring down prices . 
it gives the ftc the power to require full disclosure by refiners and distributors of fuel pricing policies , costs , and profits , so consumers will be better able to determine whether the oil companies are profiteering from the current volatility in oil markets . 
are you at least willing to do that ? 
our amendment also would extend the renewable energy production tax credit for 5 years , so that companies know that there will be incentives out there to make the investment in building new solar , wind , geothermal and biomass technologies , so we can become less dependent on coal and natural gas to generate electricity . 
our amendment strikes the cap on energy savings performance contracts , an important tool used by the federal government to reduce the amount of energy consumed in federal buildings across the country . 
our amendment would put in place three additional appliance efficiency standards -- commercial packaged air conditioners and heat pumps , residential dehumidifiers , and commercial spray valves used in restaurants . 
in addition , under the amendment , efficiency standards for residential and commercial furnaces and boilers , which have been languishing over at the energy department for more than 10 years , would be speeded up . 
we would strike the home depot ceiling fan language that immediately preempts state ceiling fan standards before there 's even a federal standard in place . 
we would provide a new 10 percent investment tax credit for high-efficient combined heat and power systems . 
we would provide a tax deduction for expenses needed to reduce energy use of new and existing commercial buildings by 50 percent below model commercial codes . 
we would provide a tax credit for new homes that reduce energy costs by 20-50 percent , and we 'd provide a tax deduction for expenses needed to cut energy use at new and existing commercial buildings . 
we would provide for the creation of an emerging technology trust fund to help develop emerging technologies for more efficient and renewable energy sources , as well as a small business commercialization program , to provide assistance for small businesses and start-up companies trying to introduce alternative energy and efficiency technologies into the marketplace . 
finally , our amendment includes the dingell democratic alternative amendment on electricity , which would preserve the bill 's mandatory reliability provisions , but delete its proposed repeal of the public utility holding company act . 
the dingell language would also give ferc stronger legal authorities to police electricity and natural gas markets for fraud . 
the bishop-markey democratic enbloc amendments make some modest but useful steps toward making this energy bill a more a balanced bill and a more consumer friendly bill . 
i urge my colleagues to vote for the amendment . 
