mr. chairman , republican leaders say that the bill before us is comprehensive energy legislation that will meet the nation 's energy needs by protecting the environment and safeguarding consumers . 
well , these are the right goals , but there is only one problem : the bill accomplishes none of them . 
this is an antienvironment , anticonsumer , antitaxpayer bill . 
this bill fails to provide secure , sustainable , and affordable energy supplies . 
it does nothing about the most important energy issues facing our nation , like addressing global warming and reducing the nation 's dependence on foreign oil . 
instead , this bill lavishes taxpayer subsidies on big energy companies , while weakening our environmental laws . 
i have never encountered a time when the disconnect between rhetoric and reality has been so enormous . 
the president says he wants to save social security , yet he proposes a plan that would cut benefits and privatize the program . 
republicans in congress say they want limited government , yet they enact legislation intruding on the end-of-life decisions for the poor woman in florida . 
congressional leaders say they want to support high moral standards in government , yet they gut the ethics process in the house . 
and in this so-called energy bill we shower billions on special interests while ignoring our nation 's serious energy needs . 
the republican energy plan is a bonanza for the energy industry . 
while natural gas , heating oil , and gasoline prices have skyrocketed , we are going to be giving these companies more money . 
shell oil reported the highest corporate profits in the history of the united kingdom . 
exxonmobil announced the largest annual profit ever made by a public company , $ 25 billion . 
there are steps we could take to address our energy problems , but this legislation ignores them . 
we urgently need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil , yet america 's dependence on oil imports will grow by 75 percent over the next 20 years under this bill . 
the bill fails to address the market abuse and manipulation that caused the california energy crisis , costing consumers in california and western states billions of dollars . 
this bill carves a loophole in the laws protecting our coastlines , our forests , and our public lands . 
and under this bill , when a big oil company pollutes community drinking water , the oil companies will no longer be held responsible for cleaning it up . 
it is a windfall for exxonmobil , but an attack on communities all around this country facing contaminated drinking water . 
this bill makes the most significant changes to the clean air act in 15 years , allowing corporate polluters to expose 53 million americans to air pollution for years longer than current law . 
i urge my colleagues to oppose this fundamentally flawed legislation . 
