mr. chairman , i rise in support of the conaway amendment . 
i come from an energy state . 
i come from a state that produces oil and gas . 
it produces not only oil and gas , but it produces jobs for our local economy . 
and i rise in support of this amendment because it is a jobs amendment . 
in the 1980s and the 1990s we saw a great fluctuation in the price of oil and gas . 
we lost some jobs and some of those jobs never came back . 
even though today we have higher oil and gas prices , some of those folks that were involved in the industry never came back . 
that tax base has been lost , and young people are not entering into the industry like they were before . 
they are not entering into the plm programs , the programs that are so vital to our industry . 
so it is very important that we support this amendment so that we have more tool pushers , more roughnecks and more truck drivers in places like oklahoma . 
i would ask each member to vote for this amendment . 
