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The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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The Senator from Maine.
Mr. SCHUMER addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
AMENDMENT NO. 4033
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from New Mexico, the Senator from Nevada, and most particularly, the Senator from Maine for helping arrange time so she and I can discuss the amendment that we are about to send to the desk. I request its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to setting aside the pending amendment?
Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from New York [Mr. SCHUMER], for himself and Ms. COLLINS, proposes an amendment numbered 4033.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
On page 93, between lines 7 and 8, insert the following:
GENERAL PROVISIONS--INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
SEC. 4__. PRESIDENTIAL ENERGY COMMISSION.
(a) FINDINGS.--Congress finds that--
(1) crude oil and natural gas account for two-thirds of America's energy consumption;
(2) in May 2000, United States natural gas stocks totaled 1,450 billion cubic feet, 36 percent below the normal natural gas inventory of 2,281 billion cubic feet;
(3) in July 2000, United States crude oil inventories totaled 298,000,000 barrels, 11 percent below the 24-year average of 334,000,000 barrels;
(4) in June 2000, distillate fuel (heating oil and diesel fuel) inventories totaled 103,700,000 barrels, 26 percent below the 24-year average of 140,000,000 barrels;
(5) combined shortages in inventories of natural gas, crude oil, and distillate stocks, coupled with steady or increased demand, could cause supply and price shocks that would likely have a severe impact on consumers and the economy; and
(6) energy supply is a critical national security issue.
(b) PRESIDENTIAL ENERGY COMMISSION.--
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.--
(A) IN GENERAL.--The President shall establish, from among a group of not fewer than 30 persons recommended jointly by the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate, a Presidential Energy Commission (referred to in this section as the ``Commission''), which shall consist of between 15 and 21 representatives from among the following categories:
(i) Oil and natural gas producing States.
(ii) States with no oil or natural gas production.
(iii) Oil and natural gas industries.
(iv) Consumer groups focused on energy issues.
(v) Environmental groups.
(vi) Experts and analysts familiar with the supply and demand characteristics of all energy sectors.
(vii) The Energy Information Administration.
(B) TIMING.--The appointments of the members of the Commission shall be made not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(C) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT.--Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
(D) CHAIRPERSON.--The members of the Commission shall appoint 1 of the members to serve as Chairperson of the Commission.
(E) INITIAL MEETING.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meeting.
(F) MEETINGS.--The Commission shall meet at the call of the Chairperson.
(2) DUTIES.--
(A) IN GENERAL.--The Commission shall--
(i) conduct a study, focusing primarily on the oil and natural gas industries, of--
(I) the status of inventories of natural gas, crude oil, and distillate fuel in the United States, including trends and projections for those inventories;
(II) the causes for and consequences of energy supply disruptions and energy product shortages nationwide and in particular regions;
(III) ways in which the United States can become less dependent on foreign oil supplies;
(IV) ways in which the United States can better manage and utilize its domestic energy resources;
(V) ways in which alternative energy supplies can be used to reduce demand on traditional energy sectors;
(VI) ways in which the United States can reduce energy consumption;
(VII) the status of, problems with, and ways to improve--
(aa) transportation and delivery systems of energy resources to locations throughout the United States;
(bb) refinery capacity and utilization in the United States; and
(cc) natural gas, crude oil, distillate fuel, and other energy-related petroleum product storage in the United States; and
(VIII) any other energy-related topic that the Commission considers pertinent; and
(ii) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to the President and Congress a report that contains--
(I) a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission; and
(II) the recommendations of the Commission for such legislation and administrative actions as the Commission considers appropriate.
(B) TIME PERIOD.--The findings made, analyses conducted, conclusions reached, and recommendations developed by the Commission in connection with the study under subparagraph (A) shall cover a period extending 10 years beyond the date of the report.
(c) USE OF FUNDS.--The Secretary of Energy shall use $500,000 of funds appropriated to the Department of Energy to fund the Commission.
(d) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.--The Commission shall terminate on the date that is 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits its report under subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii).
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues from New Mexico and Nevada for making time. I am proud to join with Ms. COLLINS, the Senator from Maine, in offering this amendment.
The amendment is a very simple one. It calls for a Presidential commission to study and propose, hopefully, consensus recommendations on how to deal with the impending crisis we have in energy.
The crisis is easy to document. U.S. inventories of natural gas, crude oil, heating oil, and diesel fuel are all at or near 25-year historic lows. Motorists in my State of New York and throughout the country are paying gasoline prices that are hovering near record highs in absolute terms and are increasing at record levels.
The current price of heating oil is higher than consumers typically pay in the dead of winter. Natural gas prices are at twice their typical price and are the highest in history at a time when warm weather keeps demand for natural gas low.
We are on the precipice of the most serious, most expensive, and most economically devastating energy crisis since spiraling prices sent our economy into a tailspin in 1976, and, of course, in terms of electricity as well. We have real problems with greater and greater demand and not enough supply.
Alan Greenspan said last July that the high price of oil has been putting inflationary pressure on our economy and that any further market impact ``would pose a risk to America's economic outlook.''
With crude oil selling for more than $33 a barrel and natural gas selling for a record nearly $5 per billion cubic feet, we are at the point that Chairman Greenspan warned about.
This is on top of a very expensive energy season where American consumers spent more than $75 billion on energy costs over the previous year.
Everyone has their own solution to the energy crisis. I have listened to the chairman of the Energy Committee and some on that side who say we should simply pump more oil. And, in the opinion of others, we should do that despite what we do to the environment.
I have heard many on this side say we have to do many things to reduce demand, such as raise CAFE standards and include SUVs and minivans under the designation of automobiles and raise the average miles per gallon.
I have heard others talk about new types of energy sources and how we need to explore them. Probably every one of the 100 Members in this Chamber, particularly after the last 6 months, has an idea. There is one problem. Our ideas are so fractured and so lacking consensus that we have done nothing. This is not blame on the Democrats or Republicans, on the White House or the Congress. Basically, there is enough blame to go around so that everybody can point a finger.
The bottom line is simple: Our demand for energy is increasing. Our supply of energy, particularly domestic supply, is decreasing. Unless we come to some kind of national consensus, the problems we faced last winter with home heating oil and this early summer with gasoline will cause new problems.
I have a great deal of respect for the Secretary of Energy. I think he has
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The amendment Senator COLLINS and I have offered to the energy and water appropriations bill will create a national energy commission. The energy commission will be established jointly by the President and the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate and will bring together representatives from the energy producing States, energy consuming States, oil and natural gas industries, consumer groups, environmental groups, and experts and analysts in the energy field. It is just the kind of group needed to bring about the consensus we so sorely lack. There may not be a consensus, but I believe we ought to try.
I, for one, am dubious of many commissions. In this case it is needed because of the paralysis in Washington in terms of addressing this issue, because of the lack of consensus throughout the land in how to deal with something that at the very least is going to cost Americans a lot more money and at its worst could take our fine economic recovery and send it into a tailspin.
The commission was designed by the Senator from Maine and myself to have a broad consensus of parties, branches of government and views and constituencies. It will conduct a study and provide a report to us on the following: the status of inventories of our energy sources; the cause for and consequences of energy supply disruption and energy product shortages nationwide and in particular regions; ways in which the United States can become less dependent on foreign oil supplies; ways in which alternate energy sources can be used to reduce demand on traditional energy sectors; ways in which the U.S. can reduce energy consumption; and ways to improve refinery capacity, utilization, and storage in the United States of natural gas, crude oil, and distillate fuel.
The commission shall provide a report within 6 months of enactment that shall include an assessment of our problems and recommendations on how to solve them.
In conclusion, last year New Yorkers and New Englanders paid more than $2 a gallon for heating oil. Home owners paid up to $1,000 more to heat their homes in my State, not because of weather but because of shortages. Motorists, people going on vacation, people driving cars and trucks for a living also paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars more out of their pockets this year.
As Chairman Greenspan warned, this is one of the few things that looms on the near horizon that could throw our economy off kilter.
Let us not get caught unprepared again. This amendment is the start of an energy policy that will protect consumers and protect our economy.
I thank the Chair and my colleagues from New Mexico and Nevada for their generosity and most particularly the Senator from Maine who is always a pleasure to work with on these and other issues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ALLARD). The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I first want to thank the managers of this bill, Senator DOMENICI and Senator REID, for bringing this appropriations bill to the floor in a bipartisan fashion and for making this time available to us tonight.
I am very pleased to join with my good friend and colleague from the State of New York, Senator SCHUMER, in offering this important amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill. As my colleague has explained, this amendment is straightforward. It would establish a Presidential commission to help us develop a comprehensive, sustainable energy policy. The time is long overdue for this Nation to have an energy policy. Unfortunately, the current administration has failed to develop one.
Last year when the home heating oil crisis gripped the Northeast, the Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson, was very forthright. He admitted that the Federal Government had been caught napping and said that we simply were not prepared.
Due largely to OPEC's anticompetitive manipulation of our oil markets, we have been experiencing dramatic price increases that have rippled throughout the four corners of this Nation. This year consumers have paid 47 percent more for gasoline. Truckers have paid 46 percent more for diesel fuel. And Northeasterners have paid 81 percent more for home heating oil than they did just one year earlier.
In my home State of Maine, this problem is reaching crisis proportions. Seventy-five percent of all Maine households use home heating oil, consuming an average of 800 gallons per year. Last year, the average Maine household spent $320 more than it did the previous year simply to heat with oil. Of course, heating with natural gas provided little relief as natural gas prices have also soared. And the outlook for this year is even worse.
Meanwhile, although OPEC countries sold 5 percent less oil in 1999, their profits were up by 38 percent.
Today, as a year ago, we find ourselves turning the corner toward cooler weather and another looming home heating oil price crisis. All signs indicate that this one will be even worse than last year's. Consider that crude oil closed Friday at $33 per barrel, up from $22 a year ago. Last week heating oil futures hit their highest level since October of 1990. At the same time, as my colleague has pointed out, home heating oil and natural gas inventories are down. Indeed, distillate stocks are roughly 10 million barrels lower than the administration predicted just last month. In fact, stocks of crude oil, gasoline and heating oil in the United States have not been at levels this low since the mid-1970s, when our economy was thrown into turmoil due in large measure to a volatile oil market. Compounding the problem, the demand for distillate fuel is predicted to increase significantly this winter.
In short, the fast approaching winter looks bleak. And judging from the most recent comments of OPEC officials, it is clear that we cannot expect any real relief from the cartel.
As my colleague has pointed out, there is no consensus in the Congress or in the administration about what approach we should take in developing a national energy policy. Policymakers differ on what can be done to provide relief to American consumers.
My friend from New York and I have been advocating for some time that the administration implement a responsible plan to swap oil from our well-stocked Strategic Petroleum Reserve to satisfy market demand and provide some price relief to American consumers. Others in this Chamber advocate different approaches. But I believe we can all find common ground with the notion that, in the long term, we need to conduct a comprehensive study of our oil and natural gas industries in order to develop a strategy to stabilize fuel prices, to explore alternative energy sources, and to reduce our reliance on foreign oil supplies. Our amendment would take an important first step in accomplishing these goals through the creation of a bipartisan energy commission.
I very much appreciate the fact that the managers have been working with us on this legislation, which I hope they will accept. With that, I yield the floor.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and with the concurrence of the minority leader, I ask unanimous consent that during the consideration of the energy and water appropriations bill on Wednesday, it be in order for the minority leader, or his designee, to offer an amendment to strike relating to the Missouri River. I further ask consent that there be 3 hours for debate equally divided in the usual form on that amendment, and further, no amendments be in order to the language proposed to be stricken by a vote.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, as soon as there is a unanimous consent agreement, it is my understanding that what we are going to try to do--there appear to be no more amendments tonight. ÐAs soon as there is something
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Mr. DOMENICI. The Senator is correct.
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