Pelosi: Majority's Energy Bill Fails to Address Price Gouging, Fails to Bring Down Prices, and Fails to Put America on Road to Energy Independence

Pelosi: Majority's Energy Bill Fails to Address Price Gouging, Fails to Bring Down Prices, and Fails to Put America on Road to Energy Independence

Friday, October 7, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this afternoon on the House floor in strong opposition to a Republican energy bill that fails to reduce skyrocketing gas prices and protect consumers from price gouging at the pump. Not a single Democrat voted for the bill, which passed by a 212 to 210 vote after Republican leaders once again abused their power and held open a five-minute vote for more than 40 minutes. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:

â€Å"Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Republican energy bill. It is anti-taxpayer, it is anti-consumer, and it is anti-environment. I encourage my colleagues to support the Stupak substitute.

â€Å"The Republican bill should be called the ‘Republican Gift to Special Interests Bill.’ It is a perfect example of the Republican culture of cronyism and corruption. Using Hurricane Katrina as their excuse, the Republicans are once again pushing their special interest agenda at the expense of the American people.

â€Å"Americans don’t need legislation passed here today to enrich the oil industry. Americans need relief from high gas prices.

â€Å"This week the average price at the pump was $2.92 per gallon â€" that’s 99 cents more than a year ago, and 30 cents higher than just pre-Hurricane Katrina. It is also twice the cost per gallon since first year President Bush took office.

â€Å"Winter is around the corner, and so are skyrocketing increases in home heating costs. Families who heat with natural gas could see their fuel costs increase more than 70 percent in some parts of the country. It’s astounding. Families are expected to spend nearly three times as much for home heating oil than they did four years ago; the first year President Bush took office. And now for home heating oil, you’re expected to pay three times as much as you did four years ago when President Bush took office.

â€Å"Yet, for the second time in less than three months, the Republicans have brought a bill to the floor that fails to address price gouging, fails to bring down prices, and fails to put us on the road to energy independence.

â€Å"As with the energy bill passed last summer, this bill ignores the real needs of the American people and rewards the greed of special interests. Need, over greed: take your choice. The Republicans in this culture of corruption and cronyism came down on the side of greed. In fact, this bill includes all the special favors to the energy industry that were too extreme to be included in the energy bill passed by Congress less than three months ago.

â€Å"Refinery companies have deliberately closed and consolidated their facilities to drive up profit margins. They are making enormous profits. Do the American people really believe the right response is to waive environmental laws, brush aside state and local authorities, and open up federal lands to new refineries? Of course not. But that is the Republican approach: greed over need.

â€Å"Republicans blame the Clean Air Act for our record energy costs. Even after removing its most extreme provisions, this bill still includes the so-called ‘bump up’ provision, which would expose millions of Americans to unhealthy levels of smog for years to come. Once again, greed over need.

â€Å"Our Democratic substitute to this bill, introduced by my colleagues Mr. Stupak and Mr. Boucher, creates a Strategic Refinery Initiative, which would be able to produce 5 percent of the daily demand for gasoline when needed. Real solutions to American’s energy crisis â€" that’s what this substitute contains. And if you are able to produce 5 percent, bump that up to the daily demand you can reduce the price of gasoline at the pump drastically.

â€Å"For weeks, Democrats have demanded a new federal law to crack down on price gouging by the energy industry. In fact, Mr. Stupak has that very bill. Consumers are being cheated every time they fill up their cars or turn up their thermostat by an industry making record profits. But this bill doesn’t come close to addressing the severe gouging of consumers.

â€Å"Our Democratic substitute provides real protection from price-gouging for the first time. We’ve been asking for it over and over. Here we have a bill on the floor that would do just that. The Stupak-Boucher bill gives the Federal Trade Commission broad authority to crack down on price gouging, for a wide range of fuels, for businesses all along the supply chain. Our substitute provides for tough civil penalties and allows state attorneys general to enforce the federal law, without interfering with state price-gouging laws.

â€Å"Mr. Chairman, it is time for our nation to make a declaration of energy independence. This is an urgent issue of national security.

â€Å"Together, America can do better. We have the resources. We have the technology. We have the innovative ideas, and more of them are springing forth all the time. We can do it right, and create millions of new jobs at the same time.

â€Å"We have an enormous untapped potential in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy. By implementing existing technologies and developing new ones in every sector of the economy and American life, we can take a giant step toward energy independence.

â€Å"This is not just about again turning down the thermostat or driving lessâ€" many Americans have had to do that for a long time now, they’ve already taken those steps. This is about using our ingenuity to make our lives better and more comfortable.

â€Å"Let us make progress. Let us set aside this back-to-the-future energy bill, and turn our faces toward the 21st Century â€" toward our nation’s true needs. I urge my colleagues to reject this special interest Republican giveaway act and support the Democratic substitute. Together, America can do better.”