RECORD HIGH GAS PRICES AT THE PUMP -- (House of Representatives - June 24, 2008)
Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, over the last couple months, House Democrats have been working with real solutions to lower pump prices for the American people, smart legislation that invests in renewable energy and temporarily halted the sending of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Oil Reserve.
This week, we will continue with real solutions to give relief to people across this country. We will consider legislation today to prevent price gouging by unscrupulous companies. Later in the week, we plan to take up a bill that will tighten the Enron loophole that allows speculators in the dark markets in places like Dubai to drive up oil prices without having any oversight. Rampant speculation is estimated by most economists to be driving up oil $30 a barrel.
And on Thursday, the House will consider legislation that tells Big Oil to either use it or lose it. This bill would bar oil companies from this fictionist red herring of saying they need more land. They have 68 million acres of the public land that they are choosing not to drill on even though oil is under it. These bills deserve and need to have bipartisan support to truly help the American people.