mr. lucas: madam speaker, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. goodlatte: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. goodlatte: i rise in strong opposition to this bill. i agree with one thing the gentleman from massachusetts had to say and that is this bill has very important consequences, but those consequences are devastating for the future of the economy of this country. it's in pursuit of the fantsoif thinking this legislation will be able to cause us to turn down the thermostat of the world by reducing co-2 gas emissions when china and india and other nations are pumping more and more co-2 gas into the atmosphere all the time. we would be far better served with legislation that devotes itself to developing new technologies before we slam the door on our traditional sources of energy like coal and oil and natural gas and nuclear

mr. lucas: thank you, madam speaker. i thank the gentleman from texas. thank you, madam speaker. and i thank the gentleman and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: thank you, madam speaker. the waxman-markey bill promises to destroy our standard of living and quality of life with higher energy costs, higher food prices and loss of jobs. the bill is the single largest economic threat to our farmers and ranchers in decades. we have more than 115 agricultural and food groups who have publicly opposed this bill as of today. madam speaker, i'd ask that the list be entered into the record at the appropriate place. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. lucas: do you know why? the greatest threat to agricultural producers is ignored. under h.r. 2452 input costs will escalate as a direct result of the energy tax. markets will shrink because foreign competitors whose government will not place burdens on their farmers, they will be able to

mr. lucas: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from kansas, mr. moran. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. moran: thank you very much. i thank the gentleman for yielding. there's a story around congress today that with the adoption of the peterson amendment, the negotiations between the chairman of the committee, that this bill becomes acceptable and advantageous to those of us who represent rural america. i can assure you nothing could be further from the truth. while the peterson amendment substantially improves the bill, at least modestly improves the bill, the end result is nothing but something that is disadvantageous, negative for rural economies. agriculture thought at one point in time there would be something they could gain by sequestering carbon in the soil. this bill still provides no assurance that the e.p.a., not the department of agriculture, but the e.p.a. would allow that to occur. if they would, the agriculture department is involved, but agriculture is not mentioned in this bill with regard to offs

mr. lucas: madam speaker, i yield myself the remainder of the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 3 1/4 minutes remaining. mr. luke youas: my fellow members, let me rise to conclude the house agriculture, the republican portion of this discussion this evening and remind my colleagues one more time that this bill has a tremendous effect on rural america and production agriculture. when 115 farm groups send in letters, and food groups, expressing their on cig to the bill that says something. 115 groups. madam speaker, i would also be remiss if i didn't express my appreciation and the appreciation of my colleagues on the republican side of the ag committee to chairman peterson. he made, we believe a good faith effort in gaucheuations with chairman waxman to try to correct the worst features of this bill. unfortunately, -- in gaucheuations -- if in negotiations with chairman waxman to try to correct the worst features of the bill. the underlying problem is, this bill will raise the cost of energy for the cost of agriculture, an energy intensiv