Deficit Reduction

DEFICIT REDUCTION

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to support the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act and to talk about the devastating effect that high prices at the pump are having on families in my home State of Washington.

Middle-class families and small business owners are still struggling. Our economy is just starting to turn around, but so many families are still fighting to stay in their homes, so many small business owners are still struggling to keep their doors open, and so many workers are still desperately trying to get back on the job. All of this is happening while we are here debating in Congress about the best ways to cut spending responsibly and rein in the deficit.

This is a serious issue. We need to get it done. But I feel very strongly that before we make budget cuts that slash support for our middle-class families, we should look at ways to responsibly reduce the deficit that do not hurt the families who are struggling the most. To me, one of the most commonsense actions we can take is to end the wasteful subsidies that we, the taxpayers, are forced to hand over to the big oil companies every year. It is a no-brainer.

Anyone who is serious about reducing the deficit should support this effort. It is as simple as that. The big oil companies are already making billions of dollars in profits from families in America who are paying now sky-high prices at the pump. In fact, the five biggest oil companies have made nearly $1 trillion in profits--$1 trillion in profits--in the last decade and $36 billion in the first 3 months of this year alone.

But the big oil companies are not just making money hand over fist from families paying sky-high prices at the pump. They also have the gall to come back to those same taxpayers and demand billions more in subsidies that add directly to their profits. It does not make any sense, and it has to end.

I think my colleagues in the Senate who oppose this legislation need to explain to the American people why they think big oil companies need even bigger profits and why they think American taxpayers should continue to pad their coffers with unwarranted subsidies at the very time we are fighting to rein in the deficit.

But in addition to ending those wasteful subsidies to the big oil companies, we also have to act to end the speculation that is a big part of what is pushing prices at the pump higher and higher. At a time when our household budgets are already stretched so thin, speculators continue to drive up those prices and volatility in the oil markets. That is one of the reasons I was so angry and disappointed that the House Republican budget proposal slashed the funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That is the very agency that is charged with protecting consumers from excessive speculation in the markets. How can they do their job and protect consumers if they are not there?

I think that says a lot about our very different priorities in Congress. The House majority has pushed to slash spending by crippling agencies that middle-class families depend on for basic protections, while Democrats are here trying to reduce the deficit responsibly by ending subsidies to the big oil companies that do not need them.

I urge our colleagues to put taxpayers in the middle class ahead of Big Oil, to end those wasteful giveaways to oil companies, and to use that money to pay down the deficit in a responsible way.

I thank Senators Menendez, McCaskill, Tester, and Brown for their great work on this issue.

Once again, I support the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act. I am going to keep fighting to end the oil and gas speculation that is hurting so many families in my home State of Washington and across the country.

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