[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2] [House] [Page 1527] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ROYALTY HOLIDAY FOR MAJOR OIL COMPANIES (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, today in the New York Times Americans were told that not only had the Congress passed a royalty holiday for major oil companies but in the most recent energy bill they had expanded and extended that royal holiday. So we have the situation today where a bill, a law that was passed many, many years ago when the price of energy was very low, has been kept on the book in spite of efforts to try and repeal it by myself and others. And now with world oil prices in excess of $60 a barrel and the oil company profits of the majors at historical record highs by all of the major oil companies, the Federal Government is going to continue to provide a royalty holiday to those oil companies that will cost us, at a minimum, over $7 billion in the next 5 years and maybe an additional 35 to $40 billion over that same period of time. The time has come for Congress to stop this program, to insist upon the renegotiation of these leases; and if the oil companies will not participate in that renegotiation they should not be allowed to bid on Federal land owned by the taxpayers of this country and continue to be able to rip off the taxpayers of this country. ____________________