http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20050727165629-26334.pdf
NEW ENERGY BILL HIDES TOM DeLAY SWEETHEART DEAL
Majority Leader Tom DeLay may have faded from
the front pages, but he's still up to his dirty tricks.
Congress of the United States -- I am writing to draw to your attention a provision in the Energy Conference Report that raises serious procedural and substantive concerns. At its essence, this provision is a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas. The provision was inserted into the energy legislation after the conference was closed, so members of the conference committee had no opportunity to consider or reject this measure. [Click for report]
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Yesterday, Rep. Henry Waxman revealed that DeLay slipped “a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas” into the energy bill.
But it gets worse. The provision was "mysteriously inserted" into the text of the energy bill "after the conference was closed, so members of the conference committee had no opportunity to consider or reject this measure."
More proof that the morals of Tom DeLay has launched an assault on the democratic process.
Here is the anatomy of DeLay’s scam: The 1.5 billion bucks is designated for "oil and natural gas drilling research." Ordinarily, any company could apply for this money directly from the government. But the crooked DeLay does things a little differently. In this case, the bulk of the money must be handed over to "a corporation that is constructed as a consortium." Guess what? As it so happens, "the leading contender for this contract appears to be the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) consortium, housed in the Texas Energy Center in Sugar Land, Texas," Tom DeLay's home district RPSEA "has been advocating such a research program and is in a better position than any other group."
(DeLay testified in support of the program before a House subcommittee last year.) If RPSEA wins the contract they can keep "up to 10% of the funds - in this case, over $100 million - in administrative expenses." And you wonder why Tom DeLay has so many moral and ethic charges against him?
DeLay added the $1.5 billion giveaway after "Democratic negotiators went home Tuesday at 4 a.m. believing a deal had been finalized and the provision wasn't in the bill." The program was not included in the draft version of the bill and a DeLay spokesman lied, saying "he could not explain how the item was added to the final version of legislation prepared by the Senate and House negotiators." (WHAT A MYSTERY!)
The bigger question is: why do taxpayers need to provide another huge subsidy oil and gas corporations? (So they have more to donate to the GOP?) As Waxman said "The oil and gas industry is reporting record income and profits. According to one analyst, the net income of the top oil companies will total $230 billion in 2005." Halliburton, which is a member of the consortium, would be eligibled to "receive awards from the over $1 billion fund administered by the consortium."
GOP Crooks Circle the Wagons: Instead taking responsibility for his crooked actions, DeLay makes like the neocons around here and attacked the messenger. DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said, ''Henry Waxman knows zero about Texas, zero about energy security, and apparently even less about how a bill becomes law." The RPSEA consortium, for their part, doesn't want to know. Melanie Kenderdine, who represents Gas Technology Institute, a company in the consortium, said, "how the sausage is made is not important to me."
The GOP sees the end coming and is robbing and stealing everything they can before the end. And you neocons go right along with it.
Jerry Sturdivant