mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me time . 
first of all , i want to thank the gentleman from louisiana ( mr. jefferson ) xz4002010 for the work he has put in to this issue and for the tone that he used in this debate . 
this is an important issue and it never ceases to amaze me to see that members come to the floor and try to make it a partisan issue and try to complicate what is already a very complicated issue . 
this is not about free trade or free markets . 
if it was it would be a very different debate . 
if we were talking about exxon and chevron or bp competing to buy unocal , that would be a completely different debate . 
what we are talking about is a company that is 70 percent owned by the communist government of china , competing against a u.s. company to purchase a u.s.-based energy company . 
that is not free market . 
and no matter how you twist or turn or try to make this sound good , that is not free market . 
that is free market competing against the communist-financed company . 
that raises concerns just because of that . 
but let us look at it a little bit more and look at the assets of the company they are trying to buy . 
they are trying to buy a major u.s. energy provider . 
that is a major concern . 
in the world today , in the world market today we are near an energy crisis . 
we are almost equal in terms of supply and demand , and that is why the price of oil has gone up dramatically . 
the u.s. economy is growing . 
the chinese economy is growing . 
the indian economy is growing . 
the brazilian economy is growing . 
all of these different economies are growing and they are competing for the same source of energy . 
and that has caused energy prices to go up worldwide . 
now , i tell my colleagues , you have got to wake up here . 
this is a wake-up call to all of us , to america and to us here , the chinese have figured out that in order for their economy to grow , they need a safe , dependable supply of energy , primarily oil , coming into their market , in order for their economy to continue to grow . 
that is how you grow your economy . 
it is based on energy . 
what are we doing to increase our domestic energy supplies ? 
what are we doing to provide a greater amounts of a safe , dependable supply of energy into this country ? 
we have been trying to pass an energy bill for 5 years . 
wake up . 
it is time for us to get together and figure out what our energy future is . 
we can not , in my opinion , we can not afford to have a major u.s. energy supplier controlled by the communist chinese . 
but what we are asking for in this resolution is for the president , for the administration to convene the commission on foreign investment into the united states and investigate this possible sale , to look at it and determine whether or not this is in the best economic and national security interests of the united states . 
that is the purpose of the commission on foreign investment . 
that is what we are asking them to do . 
we are asking them to step forward and look at this and report whether or not this is in our best interest . 
it is my opinion it is not . 
it is my opinion that it is a huge risk that we run to allow a foreign government to own one of our major u.s. energy producers . 
that is a huge risk that we are running . 
at a time like this when we are looking at international shortages on energy , skyrocketing prices , we need to do what we can to increase domestic supplies and to hold on to what we have got . 
and at the same time i would encourage my colleagues to begin to put enough pressure so that we finally get an energy bill passed . 
i heard one of the previous speakers talk about alternatives and solar and wind and fuel cells . 
i would just suggest read the energy bill . 
that is in it . 
but it also has the realistic view that in the short term , we are dependent on fossil fuels which are oil , gas and coal . 
that is the reality . 
that is what fuels the u.s. economy today . 
we need to do both . 
part of it is increasing domestic production of our fossil fuels and making that competitive in this market . 
the other part of it is looking at the future and how are we going to replace our dependence on current technology . 
that is the direction we are going . 
if we allow this sale to go forward , we are taking a huge risk . 
and i would encourage my colleagues to support this resolution . 
it is the right policy , the right thing for this country , and the right thing for congress to do . 
