Boozman Addresses House Floor About Concerns of High Gas Prices from Third District Residents

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Boozman Addresses House Floor About Concerns of High Gas Prices from Third District Residents

On July 2 Congressman Boozman held an energy roundtable to hear how Third District residents are forced to change their daily lives because of rising gas prices. He told attendees he would bring their stories back to Washington as he and his colleagues work on an energy policy.

He held true to his promise and addressing the concerns in a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Here are his remarks:

"Earlier this month I spent an afternoon at JV Manufacturing in Springdale, Arkansas, listening to hard working Arkansans talk about how the high price of gas is affecting their families. I promised them I would bring their stories back to Washington and put pressure on Congress to enact a commonsense energy policy that will help lower what they're forced to pay at the pump.

Arkansans are paying on average $4 per gallon, and many families in my district are having a hard time just making ends meet as all their disposable income is going straight into the gas tank. Now is the time to for this Congress to act. Let me mention a couple of the stories that I heard and then urge a few actions we could take that would have an immediate effect.

I met a single mom who is working full-time at a good paying job, but she is still having trouble meeting the needs of her kids and filling up the gas tank. I met a family who bought a jeep and planned to use it for recreation, but now they can barely afford the expense of driving back and forth from work. One woman told me about her husband who is an independent owner and operator of a diesel truck who has already spent almost as much on diesel in the first half of 2008 as he spent all last year.

So what should this Congress do? First, we need to increase production of American energy, through more energy exploration and production here at home. Congress needs to open up a small sliver of ANWR in Alaska and the outer continental shelf for energy exploration, encourage the construction of new refineries and more nuclear power plants and promote efficiency and new sources of renewable energy. Each of these would reduce pain at the pump. It's very important to understand that gas prices and other types of energy prices are related to each other. For example, if we want to start using more plug-in hybrids, we're going to have to increase our electricity production to charge up these gas-electric cars. That's why it's so important to support nuclear, clean coal, and alternative energy sources. Also, if this Congress will take these steps, it will send an immediate signal to speculators and other investors that we are serious about increasing production, and costs will begin to come down in the short term as well as the long term.

Congress has waited too long to help provide relief to Arkansans and the rest of the American people. We must act now and pass sensible legislation so residents of the Third District don't have to choose between keeping gas in their cars and meeting the needs of their families.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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