mr. speaker , i rise in opposition to the stupak substitute and in support of the underlying legislation .  i want to thank the gentleman from texas ( mr. barton )  , the chairman of the committee , my friend , for his leadership .  we have seen this year that we have passed comprehensive energy legislation , but that legislation did not address really the linchpin of the need in our country for greater refining capacity and greater pipeline security , redundancy and reliability .  katrina exposed that fundamental weakness in our nation 's energy security and in our nation 's economic security .  for 30 years , we have done nothing .  we have not had a new refinery come into our nation .  no one has invested .  and much of that reason is that the cost of doing business , a refinery investment in this country , is so much higher than offshore .  if we can streamline the regulatory process , give new incentives so that companies will invest in our country and new pipeline security and redundancy and reliability , as well as a new refining capacity , then we can do something about high gas prices and the disruptions that occur in a natural disaster like katrina .  we must act .  we can not fail to act .  we have seen the fundamental flaw and weakness .  it has been exposed with katrina , and the other side reminds me of those who , when a barn is burning and the fire truck is wanting to come and put the fire out and do something about it , they stand in the way and block the road and then want to blame the fire department for failing to put the fire out .  now is the time to act .  the chairman of the committee has shown remarkable speed in getting this legislation to the floor .  we need to act .  it is what the american people want .  they would agree with us .  give us a chance to do something to make it better .  