• Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, during debate on this bill, it had been my fervent hope to offer an amendment to help America address her primary strategic vulnerability, and that is our over dependence on imported foreign oil. Nearly two-thirds of the energy that the U.S. uses is imported, most from the Middle Eastern monarchies that comprise OPEC. They yank a chain around our necks at whim.
  
  
• Headlines in my local Ohio newspapers tell the story of gas prices soaring; the New York Times this week reported on rising prices coast to coast, some price hikes among the highest in U.S. history.
  
  
• Yet this bill, which has within its authority the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, does absolutely nothing to remedy the current situation, nor put America on a saner path to the future
  
  
• I have been urging the Clinton Administration and the leadership of this Congress to release some of the Reserve to help dampen price hikes here at home. At the same time, my amendment would place more emphasis on promoting renewable biofuels by directing the Departments of Interior and Energy to swap some of the current oil reserves and purchase 300,000,000 gallons of ethanol and 100,000,000 million gallons of biodiesel as a boost to a more self-sufficient future for America. [Amendment]
  
  
• Biofuels are competitively priced and hold significant promise as one major solution to move America toward energy self-sufficiency. Properly administered, swaps of crude oil from the Reserve can yield funds that can then be directed toward biofuels purchases. Further, with the involvement of the Department of Agriculture the biofuels alternative can be shaped to benefit on-farm storage of biofuel inputs and yield income to rural America at a time when it is in deep recession.
  
  
• Yet, I am being told I cannot offer this amendment Thurs. It has not been made in order. The basic attitude here is more of the same; more of the same. That inertia is not what made America great. Boldness made America great.
  
  
• Using biofuels to plot a path for cleaner and more renewable energy sources is right for America's energy future. It is right for rural America. It is right for the environment. And it is right for America's national security.
  
  
• Sadly, the leadership of this great institution has muzzled this amendment and others. But the American people will not stand for inertia. At some point, those who block progress will pay the price. Rising gas prices here at home matter a great deal to the American people. Our efforts to plot a more secure energy future will not be diminished by this blocking tactic on this bill. For this primary reason, it is my intention to oppose the legislation, and use every opportunity on succeeding bills to draw the American people's attention to the do-nothing decisions this bill represents.

Amendment Offered by Representative Marcy Kaptur to H.R. 4578, Making Appropriations for the Department of Interior and Related Agencies for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 2001

Page 69, Line 10: After `until expended.' Add `Provided, That the Secretary of Energy shall annually acquire and store as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 300,000,000 gallons of ethanol and 100,000,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel. Such fuels shall be obtained in exchange for, or purchased with funds realized from the sale of, crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.'