madam speaker , i want to thank the gentlewoman from tennessee for yielding to me .  i very much appreciate it because this is such an important issue for all of our country , but especially for our district in east texas .  the eastern side of my district is louisiana , and it is actually quite a help for louisiana as well .  but the things we are talking about , the resources that we have in our district include oil , gas , coal , lignite , biomass material .  that could be made from things like corn maize or soy , but also from forestry material that is left over when lumber is made .  there are so many jobs that will be assisted and created .  it is estimated that there could be half a million jobs created as a result of the energy bill that we are discussing here .  some people worry about the environmental effects of an energy bill and encouraging energy production , but i want to tell the members i am familiar with oil wells , i am familiar with gas wells , i am familiar with lignite .  i was just in a couple of lignite mines in my district in the last 2 weeks , and we worry about the destruction of property , but when we see what has been done and the way the land is reclaimed and reestablished , it ends being a work of art .  the hardwoods are put back .  the streams are back better than ever .  the hillsides , it is just beautiful what has been done .  plus the renewable resources like pine trees are there .  it is a good thing for east texas .  of course we have heard in anwr previously that it would destroy the caribou population .  when the pipeline was going to be laid , many of us remember back in the 1970s they said it was just going to decimate the caribou .  as it turned out , there were about 3 , 000 caribou back then .  now there are around 32 , 000 , as it turns out , because that oil is warmed as it goes through the pipeline to keep it flowing .  when caribou want to ask each other for dates , they go to the pipeline and it makes them really romantic-thinking .  so it has actually increased the population there .  when people complained we should not have oil and gas wells out in the coast because it is going to destroy the fish and the teeming life in the gulf of mexico , it turns out after they put offshore rigs out there , that is where commercial fishermen went because that was an artificial reef and it ended up helping fishing as well .  there is so much technology that has been developed over the last 30 and 40 years that has been good for everybody .  we also have the eastman plant , actually more in harrison county but there by longview , and they use natural gas to make plastic products , all kinds of products there .  this will help them .  it will create cheaper natural gas .  if we have cheaper natural gas , the papermill that had to close down in lufkin because they could not get cheap enough gas ; they are planning on reopening if that can happen .  that just does not help lufkin .  it helps st .  augustine and hemphill .  they worked there at the paper mill .  clear up in longview there is a man who lost 7 percent of his business when the paper mill closed all because of energy costs .  these things can come back .  but not only that , we do a lot of drilling .  these small business companies in east texas , we have got the drillers themselves that go back to work .  we have got land men going to work getting leases on the land .  we have got the owners that are getting that lease money .  we have got people that retain mineral interests getting royalties back .  we have got people that are going back during the production , the service companies rehiring folks .  we have got the steel producers , companies that are renting equipment to those facilities .  we have got independent drillers that are doing well .  there are workers of all kinds and their families that are all having their lives made better .  we have got clean coal technologies that are going to assist us and keep the air clean and make the environment just as good or better after the production of coal .  there are so many good things that result for the nation and especially for my district .  and let me just say on a personal note , with all of the things that a good energy bill will do for the nation and do for our district , i feel good about what we are doing and i appreciate the gentlewoman 's yielding to me because it does mean a lot .  to take it to a very personal note , i have got three daughters .  two are away in college now , and our youngest is a junior in high school .  sarah 's birthday is tomorrow , and i do not remember not being there on the morning of one of my kids ' birthdays .  she will be 17 tomorrow .  and i hate like heck missing her birthday tomorrow , but we are going to pass us an energy bill tomorrow .  and if i did not believe with all my heart that i was helping to make this country better for my children , then i would but we are doing good , and i am proud to be a part of a majority that is working to make america better .  