House backs Cazayoux energy study bill

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jul 24, 2008 - Page: 20A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a measure authored by U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux that would study the relationship between world energy policies and national security.

But the vote didn’t come before Republicans accused the New Roads Democrat of stealing their idea.

The House voted 414-0, with two voting present, for Cazayoux’s bill authorizing the national intelligence director to also look at prices, supplies and demand for energy sources ranging from crude oil to alternative fuels.

Cazayoux wants the director to study how actions by rogue oil-producing nations such as Iran and Venezuela aid terrorist groups and give those countries leverage against the United States.

But House Republicans cried foul, saying they introduced a similar measure last week that was voted down by Democrats. The Republicans accused Democratic leadership of letting Cazayoux author the new bill because he is in a tough re-election bid in November.

“Cazayoux ripped off my bill,” U.S Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said Wednesday. “Democrats thought Cazayoux needed success on the floor and they gave it to him by ripping off my bill.”

Democrats, including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, denied the claim, saying the Republican amendment offered by Hoekstra was attached to the intelligence spending bill and would have sent the legislation back to committee, thus effectively killing the bill.

Cazayoux said he had no qualms offering the new bill and accused Republicans of playing politics.

“A good idea is a good idea,” Cazayoux said during Tuesday night floor debate on the measure.

If approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Bush, the intelligence director would study how rapidly rising energy costs are affecting national security. The assessment would also look at how the nation’s continued dependence on international energy supplies also affects its standing.

Republicans overwhelmingly supported the Cazayoux bill. Hoekstra and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., voted present.

“We don’t care if your name is on it,” U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Cazayoux during the debate. “We spend a billion dollars a day overseas to people who are trying to hurt us.”

The study, which is to be completed by January, would give Congress a better understanding of the link between energy and national security, Cazayoux said. Since his May 3 election to Congress, Cazayoux has supported several Republican bills, he said.