mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me time .  first of all , i want to thank the gentleman from louisiana ( mr. jefferson )  for the work he has put in to this issue and for the tone that he used in this debate .  this is an important issue and it never ceases to amaze me to see that members come to the floor and try to make it a partisan issue and try to complicate what is already a very complicated issue .  this is not about free trade or free markets .  if it was it would be a very different debate .  if we were talking about exxon and chevron or bp competing to buy unocal , that would be a completely different debate .  what we are talking about is a company that is 70 percent owned by the communist government of china , competing against a u.s. company to purchase a u.s.-based energy company .  that is not free market .  and no matter how you twist or turn or try to make this sound good , that is not free market .  that is free market competing against the communist-financed company .  that raises concerns just because of that .  but let us look at it a little bit more and look at the assets of the company they are trying to buy .  they are trying to buy a major u.s. energy provider .  that is a major concern .  in the world today , in the world market today we are near an energy crisis .  we are almost equal in terms of supply and demand , and that is why the price of oil has gone up dramatically .  the u.s. economy is growing .  the chinese economy is growing .  the indian economy is growing .  the brazilian economy is growing .  all of these different economies are growing and they are competing for the same source of energy .  and that has caused energy prices to go up worldwide .  now , i tell my colleagues , you have got to wake up here .  this is a wake-up call to all of us , to america and to us here , the chinese have figured out that in order for their economy to grow , they need a safe , dependable supply of energy , primarily oil , coming into their market , in order for their economy to continue to grow .  that is how you grow your economy .  it is based on energy .  what are we doing to increase our domestic energy supplies ?  what are we doing to provide a greater amounts of a safe , dependable supply of energy into this country ?  we have been trying to pass an energy bill for 5 years .  wake up .  it is time for us to get together and figure out what our energy future is .  we can not , in my opinion , we can not afford to have a major u.s. energy supplier controlled by the communist chinese .  but what we are asking for in this resolution is for the president , for the administration to convene the commission on foreign investment into the united states and investigate this possible sale , to look at it and determine whether or not this is in the best economic and national security interests of the united states .  that is the purpose of the commission on foreign investment .  that is what we are asking them to do .  we are asking them to step forward and look at this and report whether or not this is in our best interest .  it is my opinion it is not .  it is my opinion that it is a huge risk that we run to allow a foreign government to own one of our major u.s. energy producers .  that is a huge risk that we are running .  at a time like this when we are looking at international shortages on energy , skyrocketing prices , we need to do what we can to increase domestic supplies and to hold on to what we have got .  and at the same time i would encourage my colleagues to begin to put enough pressure so that we finally get an energy bill passed .  i heard one of the previous speakers talk about alternatives and solar and wind and fuel cells .  i would just suggest read the energy bill .  that is in it .  but it also has the realistic view that in the short term , we are dependent on fossil fuels which are oil , gas and coal .  that is the reality .  that is what fuels the u.s. economy today .  we need to do both .  part of it is increasing domestic production of our fossil fuels and making that competitive in this market .  the other part of it is looking at the future and how are we going to replace our dependence on current technology .  that is the direction we are going .  if we allow this sale to go forward , we are taking a huge risk .  and i would encourage my colleagues to support this resolution .  it is the right policy , the right thing for this country , and the right thing for congress to do .  