American Energy Policy

Floor Speech

AMERICAN ENERGY POLICY -- (Senate - June 09, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

THE ECONOMY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I rise this evening amid new and very pressing concerns about the future of our economy. Today, millions of Americans are struggling to keep their homes. The price of just about everything, from gas, college, health care, you name it, is on the rise, and families from coast to coast are wondering how they are going to make ends meet.

Just last week, we saw new and shocking statistics illustrating this crisis. With the price of the American Dream going up, working families seem to be facing new challenges every day. Last week, it was a new report from the Department of Labor. They told us the overall unemployment rate rose from 5 percent to 5.5 percent in May, up from 4.5 percent just 1 year ago. That is 861,000 new unemployed people in 1 month, bringing the total to 8 1/2 million people unemployed in America today in May. Today, there is even more bad news. Gas has, for the first time, hit an average of $4 a gallon.

Madam President, the American people are hurting. While job creation and wage levels are dropping, prices are going up. Everything costs more, but families don't have enough money to spend. The bottom line is the American Dream is slipping through the fingers of too many Americans, and we have to do something about it.

Now, this evening I want to talk specifically about oil and gas prices because this week the Senate is going to have an opportunity to take a step in the right direction and put consumers first. Tomorrow morning, we are going to vote on a Democratic bill that seeks to address the root causes of these high gas prices because we are committed to putting consumers first and to fixing the root causes of high gas prices so these solutions have a real lasting effect.

We want to force big oil to pay its fair share and invest in clean and affordable alternative energy sources. We want to protect consumers from price gougers who rip off Americans and greedy oil traders who manipulate this market. We want to stand up to OPEC and countries colluding to set high oil prices. These basic, commonsense steps will attack the root causes of high gas prices, but they are only the beginning.

Step 2 has to include a long-term strategy to decrease our dependence on oil and promote clean renewable energy. That is why later this week we are going to propose billions of dollars in tax breaks to promote those new energy sources. Our plan seeks to address the high price of gas at the pump now, but it will also help to ensure that energy is affordable for years to come.

With gas prices on the rise, there has been a lot of finger-pointing in recent weeks, but you don't have to look very hard to see who is to blame and who is benefiting from these skyrocketing prices. While our working families have been scrimping, the economic downturn hasn't even registered for big oil. The major oil companies reported record increases in profits last quarter. ConocoPhillips recorded first quarter profits of $4.1 billion, beating their previous record by $600 million, with Shell and BP also reporting huge gains.

The reason is that over the last 7 1/2 years, Republicans have backed an energy policy that does little but give oil companies tax breaks and special favors while our middle-class families pay the price. In the first month of the Bush administration, oil prices averaged $29.50 a barrel. Now, almost 8 years later, the price has more than quadrupled. It is over $130 a barrel this week and pushing toward $140 a barrel. When President Bush first took office, Americans were paying $1.46 a gallon to fill their tanks, and this week gas prices are averaging a whopping $4 a gallon. We have gone from $1.46 to over $4 a gallon in this Bush administration.

What is most disturbing to me and to American families all across the country is how fast these gas prices are rising. Six weeks ago, I came on the floor of the Senate and spoke on the same subject, saying a lot of the same things, and at the same time I was saying how shocking it was to see the national average at $3.60 a gallon. But in just a few weeks prices have gone up another 40 cents a gallon. I am a little scared to do the math and see what increase that is going to translate into by the Fourth of July, just a few weeks away or, even worse, Labor Day. Instead, I think it is time we come together for action in the Senate.

I mentioned the national averages already, but in my home State of Washington and the home State of the Presiding Officer, drivers are paying even more. The average cost of a gallon of gas in Washington State is now $4.22. Yesterday, in my State, I paid $4.29 a gallon. Right now, AAA is saying that gas costs $4.22 in my State. That is the average. That is 44 cents higher than just a month ago, 95 cents higher than a year ago, and 20 cents higher than the national average. And our truckers are being hit really hard. AAA found the average price of a gallon of diesel is $4.89 a gallon in my home State. That is 40 cents higher than a month ago and $1.84 higher than just a year ago.

When I travel around Washington State, gas prices are the first thing people talk to me about, and they have written me countless letters asking for help. Everyone asks what we are going to do about this matter. While they are cutting back their budgets in my home State, they do not see any action in Washington, DC. And I have told them time and again that Democrats want to act, but we need help to do that from our Republican colleagues. They will have a chance to help us do that tomorrow.

But I am concerned that Republicans are more interested, from what I am hearing, in just blocking our progress and whatever we want to do here than actually taking any meaningful action for the people who are hurting so badly at home today. In fact, for the past several days, we have already seen, from what I have heard, a parade of Republican Senators out on the floor complaining about high gas prices, and in many cases blaming Democrats for failing to address this crisis over the past 16 months. They are bringing out their charts and showing the price of gas when Democrats took over Congress and what the price is now, and they ask us all to simply forget the real reason for this crisis--the misguided energy policy that this administration has pursued for years.

But I don't think the American people are going to forget that. They are not going to forget it was this administration that asked oil and gas companies to write their energy plan. The American people aren't going to forget the only real idea coming from the other side is to drill our way out of the problem. And they are not going to forget that this is an administration closer to the oil and gas industry than any in our history. We are not going to forget either, and that is why we are fighting for change. We have already won higher fuel economy standards and new investments in renewable energy sources, but we know we need to do more because Americans know that we cannot rely--we cannot rely--on big oil to solve our energy problems.

Madam President, the energy policy isn't the only area where Republicans have put special interests ahead of our American families. For 7 1/2 years, President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have chosen to stand by while our highways are crumbling, hundreds of thousands of our veterans go homeless every night, and millions of our families struggle to keep a roof over their heads. In the last year, our new Democratic majority has had to fight Republicans and the administration for resources to address everything from veterans health care to the foreclosure crisis our families are facing. I think the legacy of this administration is going to be nothing but red ink and broken promises.

People in my home State of Washington are very worried about the future. They want to be sure their children will have economic security. They want a solution to our energy problems that are going to keep us safe and protect our environment for the long run. And the same is true, I know, across the country.

Americans are hurting because of these high gas prices. It doesn't matter whether they are Republican or Democrat, they want help.

I know Republicans and oil companies are not going to give up on the status quo easily here. But Democrats on our side have been fighting for policies that will help us cut those prices, create jobs, and keep our air and water clean and, most importantly, our Nation secure.

We are committed to taking strong action that will stop rewarding these oil companies and start looking out for our American families. We are going to keep up that fight. If my Republican colleagues want their constituents to have help, if they want to take action that will stop this pain at the pump, the solution is very simple: Vote yes with us tomorrow morning so we can move to a bill that will begin to solve this problem.

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