mr. speaker , i yield myself 2 minutes . 
mr. speaker , the bill before us today was rushed through the committee . 
it did not receive a single legislative hearing . 
it would weaken environmental protections but would do nothing to reduce the price of gasoline . 
there has been much attention given to the fact that our nation 's refinery capacity is limited , but there has been no substantial evidence presented to conclude that the reason for this shortage is difficulty in siting or obtaining the environmental permits necessary in order to build a new refinery . 
in fact , there has been some evidence that suggests the reason for the thin refinery capacity is that refiners are reluctant to build new facilities since they are enjoying record profits under the current regime . 
the bill before us would seek to increase refinery capacity by easing environmental requirements and providing additional federal authorities for siting new facilities . 
based on the evidence before us , that would be the wrong remedy . 
there is a better approach . 
later today i will be joining with our colleague , the gentleman from michigan ( mr. stupak ) xz4003910 , in offering a substitute for the bill . 
our substitute would address the refinery capacity issue by creating a strategic refinery reserve . 
the new reserve would build on the success of the strategic petroleum reserve and would provide the nation with a reserve refinery capacity that could be used in times of national emergency to increase the supply of gasoline and minimize supply disruptions and price spikes . 
given the choices that are before us today , the substitute that the gentleman from michigan ( mr. stupak ) xz4003910 and i will be offering is far more likely to address our real gasoline supply problems than the underlying bill . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
