madam speaker , i do appreciate the gentlewoman from tennessee yielding some to me so we can talk about what i think is one of the most important bills that we will vote on in the 109th congress , and that is a comprehensive energy package .  as the gentlewoman from tennessee mentioned , this bill is both forward thinking and now thinking .  there are alternative technologies .  there is i think an incredible statement toward renewable fuels and alternative technologies like the fuel cell , but we also have to recognize some of our issues that face us now , and what i am talking about is the price of natural gas and how it is impacting our economy and our families in america , especially agri business and small businesses .  natural gas , by the way , accounts for nearly a quarter of america 's energy supply and is used by more than half of the households and businesses in america .  in fact , in my district of omaha , nebraska , about 65 percent of the households are heated , and by the way , it gets cold , maybe not like in the gentlewoman 's part of tennessee , it gets pretty cold in omaha during the winter , and we rely on natural gas .  unfortunately , the united states faces a natural gas challenge that threatens the profitability of almost every sector of our economy , as well as our citizens ' quality of life .  nationwide natural gas prices just 5 years ago were $ 1.50 per thousand cubic feet .  today , as this chart shows , it is off the charts .  it is over $ 7 and has been for the last two to three weeks .  let us look at how the united states ' natural gas prices compare to the rest of the world .  in venezuela , it is about 70 cents per thousand cubic feet , 40 cents in africa , 80 cents in russia .  the next , by the way , is europe with $ 3.70 , less than half of what we pay in the united states .  farm states , including nebraska , have been hit especially hard by higher natural gas prices since natural gas is the primary material in nitrogen fertilizers , as well as the key fuel for irrigation and drying of grains .  anhydrous ammonia fertilizer has increased from about $ 175 per ton in 2000 to as much as $ 375 last planting season .  about half of america 's nitrogen fertilizer is now imported .  let me restate that .  nearly half of our farmers ' nitrogen fertilizer is now imported , mostly due to these high costs of natural gas .  this is going to have a severe impact on our economy and for our farmers .  the increased cost of natural gas has played a substantial role in losing nearly 3 million u.s. manufacturing jobs over the last 5 years , according to the industrial energy consumers of america .  whether these jobs were located in an auto plant in ohio or a petrochemical manufacturer in houston , many have been moved overseas , chasing the cheaper natural gas where it is more abundant and plentiful .  these reasons for concern are magnified when one considers u.s. natural gas consumption is expected to increase over the next 20 years .  simultaneously , domestic natural gas production is falling about 1 percent a year .  let me show my colleagues this chart .  we actually have a decent supply of natural gas , but most of it is off limits and stays off limits in this bill , especially around the coastal regions of california and florida .  we do encourage some additional domestic production of natural gas .  last year , this congress passed a pipeline from alaska down to chicago , but i am telling my colleagues , looking at the politics in alaska , this may take decades before that pipeline is run from alaska to the continental united states to provide some price relief for our economy and for heating our homes .  so we must look at these natural gas prices in a holistic way , meaning domestic production , pipeline , and we still have to realize that to meet the increased needs of natural gas within our united states , we are going to unfortunately have to import some of our natural gas .  otherwise , if we do not look at it in a holistic way , domestic , alaskan pipeline and liquid natural gas imports , natural gas prices may increase to $ 13 or $ 14 per thousand cubic feet .  unfortunately , to import liquid natural gas , we have got about three or four facilities today .  there are many applications to site liquid natural gas to an import terminal where the liquid natural gas comes in , it goes in , it is unloaded , it is turned into a gas and then put into pipelines , but we are experiencing the typical not-in-my-backyard with some extreme overexaggerations of the dangerousness of liquid natural gas .  because localities and states have played on this fear , those localities , in fact , in maine , a locality even , though the states have issued permits , are approved permits , a locality stops an lng terminal .  this forces us to have to look at different ways .  in this base bill , we in the committee on energy and commerce worked on this together in committee .  we recognized that what we have to do is streamline this process .  if we are going to help alleviate the pressures on price , we have to give more authority for this international and national commerce to the federal energy regulatory commission .  we want the states to have a part in here .  what we just do not want is for the states and localities , based on nimby , to have veto power .  this is in the base bill .  tomorrow , we are going to have a movement by a gentleman from massachusetts and delaware to strip out this provision , and it is only going to hurt manufacturers , small businesses , agri business and people who heat their homes with natural gas , companies that generate electricity by natural gas .  we must overcome this provision tomorrow for the overall economic and basically lifestyle of the citizens of the united states .  so i want to thank the gentlewoman for reserving this time so we can help educate our colleagues and america on something as important as liquid natural gas and its implications to their budgets at home .  