mr. speaker , i yield myself 3 minutes .  mr. speaker , i rise today in support of house resolution 344 , introduced by the gentleman from california ( mr. pombo )  , and urge its immediate adoption .  briefly , this resolution asks that the president initiate a thorough review of any potential takeover of unocal corporation by the chinese national offshore oil company as soon as any agreement of such a takeover is announced , on the grounds that such a purchase could threaten the national security of the united states .  mr. speaker , at a time of rising prices on global oil supplies , ready access to energy resources is a vital element to our economic security .  it is imperative that the united states protect its access to unocal 's energy resources in order to protect our economy and our national security .  just as importantly , mr. speaker , i and many members are extremely skeptical of assurances that the chinese oil company executives have sought to offer that they would dedicate any oil production from this region to consumption in the united states .  mr. speaker , we know from a number of past experiences that the chinese do not look at trade the same way we do , that agreements made or treaties signed are more of a starting point for negotiation than documents that must be adhered to .  especially in this purchase , the chinese company and the chinese government are not playing fair .  this company is 70 percent owned by the chinese government , is said to be receiving more than a quarter of the funding of its bid for unocal at zero percent or at highly subsidized interest rates .  mr. speaker , american companies who are interested in buying unocal can not get funding deals like that .  they borrow on the open , nonsubsidized credit market , or they would be able to offer a few billion dollars more in an instance like this .  i call that an unfair trade practice , and a good enough reason for the deal to be waved off all by itself .  but , mr. speaker , there is a much more serious reason to be skeptical of this proposed purchase , and it is for that reason i support this resolution .  in my view , a purchase of unocal by a company that the communist government of china controls , a government that is one of our major trading partners but also one of our major trade competitors , threatens the national security of this country by holding out the prospect that every drop of oil , every unit of natural gas produced by that company could end up being shipped to china .  we are all reminded every time we go to the gas pump what has happened to the price of oil recently , and if the chinese shut off the unocal tap , the united states supply of oil would be that more scarce and a gallon of gas or heating oil that much more expensive .  you only need 2 numbers to understand how serious this problem potentially could become : the global excess capacity of oil production right now is estimated to be just 1.5 to 2 million barrels of oil a day , the lowest in the past several decades .  compare that to this : last year , china 's increase in demand for crude oil is said to have been 850 , 000 barrels a day , with the demand expected to grow another 7.5 percent this year alone .  mr. speaker , the chinese economy is inhaling oil , and a lot of other commodities , at a staggering rate .  how can we imagine that a government-owned oil company will not send its fuel to feed that government 's economy , and not our own ?  mr. speaker , i urge support of this resolution that is so needed .  mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time .  