DeLay's Big Giveaway

DeLay's Big Giveaway

July 28, 2005

It was revealed yesterday that the energy bill is even worse than first imagined. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) revealed that Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) slipped a $1.5 billion giveaway to the oil industry, Halliburton, and Sugar Land, Texas, into the energy bill. DeLay snuck the provision in after the conference had ended, thereby preventing members of the committee the opportunity to review or reject the measure. As our nation faces a burgeoning energy crisis, and the current bill does little to ease those problems, it is outrageous that DeLay would slip this provision in without the benefit of a debate, and is another disturbing example of his abuse of power.

• The $1.5 billion is a giveaway to a company in Tom DeLay's home district. The $1.5 billion is designated for oil and natural gas drilling research, but instead of an open bidding process, DeLay stipulated that the bulk of the money must be handed over to a "a corporation that is constructed as a consortium." It turns out, the leading contender for the contract is the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) consortium, which is housed in Tom DeLay's home district of Sugar Land, Texas. If RPSEA is successful, it can keep "up to 10% of the funds – in this case, over $100 million – in administrative expenses."
  
  
• The giveaway was snuck in after legislators thought the bill was finalized. In an affront to the democratic political process, DeLay put this provision into the bill after the Democratic negotiators went home at 4 a.m. believing a deal had been finalized. A DeLay spokesman said he could not explain how the item was added to the final version of legislation that was prepared by the Senate and House negotiators.
  
  
• What is needed is a real energy policy, not more giveaways to the oil and gas companies. As Rep. Waxman notes, "The oil and gas industry is reporting record income and profits." So why do taxpayers need to provide them with another huge subsidy? Halliburton, which is a member of the consortium, would be eligible to receive awards from the over $1 billion fund administered by the consortium – that is in addition to the billions of dollars it has received over the years.