mr. speaker , i rise in opposition to the stupak substitute and in support of the underlying legislation . 
i want to thank the gentleman from texas ( mr. barton ) xz4000180 , the chairman of the committee , my friend , for his leadership . 
we have seen this year that we have passed comprehensive energy legislation , but that legislation did not address really the linchpin of the need in our country for greater refining capacity and greater pipeline security , redundancy and reliability . 
katrina exposed that fundamental weakness in our nation 's energy security and in our nation 's economic security . 
for 30 years , we have done nothing . 
we have not had a new refinery come into our nation . 
no one has invested . 
and much of that reason is that the cost of doing business , a refinery investment in this country , is so much higher than offshore . 
if we can streamline the regulatory process , give new incentives so that companies will invest in our country and new pipeline security and redundancy and reliability , as well as a new refining capacity , then we can do something about high gas prices and the disruptions that occur in a natural disaster like katrina . 
we must act . 
we can not fail to act . 
we have seen the fundamental flaw and weakness . 
it has been exposed with katrina , and the other side reminds me of those who , when a barn is burning and the fire truck is wanting to come and put the fire out and do something about it , they stand in the way and block the road and then want to blame the fire department for failing to put the fire out . 
now is the time to act . 
the chairman of the committee has shown remarkable speed in getting this legislation to the floor . 
we need to act . 
it is what the american people want . 
they would agree with us . 
give us a chance to do something to make it better . 
