mr. speaker , there are two fundamental problems with the bill before us today : what it does and what it does not to do . 
the bill will not address the very real and very immediate problems millions of americans are facing every day . 
people are struggling to be able to afford to drive to work in the morning , and families are wondering how they are going to pay to heat their homes this winter . 
but the gas act we are considering today will not help them . 
this energy bill , written in the midst of what is threatening to become the worst energy crisis the country has ever experienced , does nothing to help reduce the price of gasoline . 
that is not me talking , the chairman of the house committee on energy and commerce , the gentleman from texas ( mr. barton ) xz4000180 , admitted this very fact in the committee on rules yesterday . 
he told us without taking command and control measures , this congress can not do anything in the short term to lower gas prices , even if the bill is passed , and he wrote the bill . 
i hope every american pays attention to that fact because it is a very important one . 
with this bill , the republican leadership is telling you they know there is a problem , they know you are suffering , but there is nothing they can do about it ; but it is not true that they can not , it is just true that they will not . 
there are things that this congress can do to help our fellow americans in this time of crisis . 
there are measures that can be taken that will help reduce the price of gasoline . 
i know because we debated many of those measures in the committee on rules just last night . 
amendments that i and my colleagues have proposed , such as eliminating the zone pricing methods employed by gasoline suppliers , would help to mitigate the high gas prices not years down the road but now . 
these amendments were rejected by the majority . 
in fact , of the 18 democratic amendments offered only one was allowed . 
we are offering that amendment by the gentleman from michigan ( mr. stupak ) xz4003910 as a substitute for the bill , but it begs the question , what is the leadership doing with their time and energy if we can not have a real debate on how to solve these very real problems ? 
if unconcerned with the present , does the bill at least offer a plan for the future ? 
does it call for our nation to raise its energy efficiency standards or for us to aggressively explore alternatives fuels ? 
amendments that were not allowed to be considered called for those things , but the gas act is silent on them . 
since the gas act will not address the needs of the people either now or in the years ahead , what will it do ? 
the answer is as simple as it is predictable : it is a give-away to the oil industry . 
to justify this action , the republican leadership first invented a problem . 
america needs to expand its refinery capacity , they said . 
this premise is dubious at best . 
edward murphy , a refinery specialist with the american petroleum institute , told the washington post just yesterday there is not a shortage of capacity in america because capacity is a global issue . 
his learned opinion was clearly ignored by the authors of the legislation , for having invented their problem , they have already come up with a solution to it : throw the money at the oil companies , and that will induce them to build more refineries . 
the simple truth of the matter is that for three decades , oil companies have not been building refineries because it has not been profitable for them to do so . 
in almost 30 years , no oil company has applied to build one . 
by intentionally limiting the supply of available gasoline on the market , they keep its price up . 
numerous industry memos available to the public have advocated just such an approach to business . 
furthermore , it is impossible to seriously argue that throwing even more money at the oil companies would change their minds . 
the american oil industry is already flush with cash , just as the people of the nation struggle to foot the bill . 
in fact , since 2001 , 4 years ago , the top five oil companies in the united states have recorded combined profits . 
this is important , mr. speaker , they have reported combined profits of $ 254 billion . 
that is more money than we have spent on the war in iraq , and it is split between just five companies . 
if we were to open that figure out to the entire industry , it would be even more staggering . 
this is not the only way in which the republicans are standing up today for the corporations who need help the least . 
under this bill , if an oil company wins a suit against a local government over the right to build a new refinery within that government 's jurisdiction , this bill will force the locality to pay for the court costs . 
but conversely , if the locality wins the suit , the company under this law does not have to pay a dime . 
so if exxon wants to build a refinery in your backyard or near your child 's school , and you and the local community want to oppose it , it means you very well may have the pleasure of paying exxon 's legal fees for trying to protect your community . 
it is an official incentive for corporations to take communities for all they are worth and then some . 
next , what about price gouging ? 
rather than punish this outrageous , immoral and deeply damaging practice , the bill will place a limit on the maximum daily fine that can be given to an individual guilty of that practice . 
sadly , we are lucky this is all the gas act will do because until late last night , it was much worse . 
the legislation included an unjustified attack on the clean air act and was intent on rolling back 30 years of progress on protecting the quality of air that we and our children breathe . 
it seems that being good corporate citizens and mandating that companies not pump their waste into the air we breathe and the water we drink was just too much for this leadership to ask of their energy industry . 
apparently , they would rather have americans pay for corporate profits with their health . 
thankfully , the majority was shamed into removing such a provision from the bill as its own rank and file objected to this basic assault on the health of our country . 
but what we are left with is still deeply troubling . 
it is legislation that is not responsive to the welfare of the people and does not offer real solutions for the future . 
it is the kind of legislation produced by a congress that has forgotten who it works for , a congress more concerned with corporate lobbyists who write bills than concerned with the working people who struggle to deal with their consequences . 
it is the product of congressional leadership out of touch with the citizens of this country . 
this bill is a living , breathing example of the culture of corruption which has plagued this body and ails this nation , and i urge my colleagues to oppose this rule , this bill , and to support the democratic alternative . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
