Pelosi: There Must Be a Federal Law to Prosecute Price Gouging at the Pump
Pelosi: There Must Be a Federal Law to Prosecute Price Gouging at the Pump
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616
Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Congressman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) at a press stakeout today after the Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss record high gas prices and the need to protect Americans from price gouging. Below are Pelosi’s remarks:
On an Increase in Energy Costs:
â€Å"Right now, at the end of the summer, we are talking about the price at the pump, but pretty soon it’s going to be the cost of home heating oil that is going to have an impact on the budgets of America’s families.â€Â
â€Å"At this sad time for our country, our focus must be on providing the Katrina emergency assistance that is still required, and to begin the recovery that is necessary for the people in the Gulf Coast states.
â€Å"Every day, we have reason to further extend our sympathies to the people of the region and to assure them that we will work together as much as possible and in a bipartisan way to help them. This is about them: their families, their emergency relief, their recovery.
â€Å"I was in Houston last week and I want to commend the people of Houston for the magnificent hospitality and display of humanitarian assistance that they have extended to the people of the Gulf States, largely Louisiana. I met with many of the evacuees who want to go home. Whether it’s a little boy, a woman about to have a baby, or a 90-year-old great granny, people want to go home and hopefully they can do that soon, but there is a lot of distance between then and now.
â€Å"As we focus on the needs of the people in the region, we have to also recognize the impact that this tragedy has had on the consumers in the rest of the country. Even before Katrina, there was concern about price gouging at the pump. Many of America’s families are experiencing a middle-class squeeze, and the price at the pump is becoming oppressive.
â€Å"Families are forced to make decisions about their spending, for example whether they would use the car or not. It goes beyond families deciding whether they would take a trip, but they were very limited with what they could do once they got there. Some people who make minimum wage can barely afford to drive to work if they lived any distance from their job.
â€Å"Something must be done about this. There must be a federal law to investigate and prosecute price gouging, and to receive damages from those in violation of the law and have that funding go to LIHEAP and other relief for consumers.
â€Å"Right now, at the end of the summer, we are talking about the price at the pump, but pretty soon it’s going to be the cost of home heating oil that is going to have an impact on the budgets of America’s families. And we should have transparency with the oil companies as to how they determine the price. We should have to have anti-trust laws apply to OPEC countries and how they do their pricing as well.
â€Å"There is one area of the energy bill that I would think is almost ludicrous if this didn’t have such a serious impact on America’s families. Drilling that oil companies do to get the oil and gas out of the deep water, for free. The policy, up until now, has said that if the price per barrel went above $35, then they would begin paying royalties to the American government, to the American people. At $35 a barrel, oil companies are making a ton of money. They don’t need further subsidies from the U.S. government. But in the energy bill that just passed, they said that no longer would $35 be the mark at which you pay royalties to the government. No matter what the price per barrel, this oil and gas are free for oil companies, and the American tax payer is once again ripped off.
â€Å"Even before Katrina Americans had concerns about prices at the pump, which have now been exacerbated. When I spoke to the Secretary of Energy right after Katrina hit, I asked him to do something about price gouging. He said: ‘Well, you know the companies are concerned about this as anybody, and some of this happens down the line.’ So I said, ‘If the heads of these oil companies are as concerned as you say, perhaps they can make a public statement that price gouging is wrong and that they would support penalties against those who engage in it.’ To which the Secretary replied, ‘Well I thought of that, but I didn’t want to give people any ideas about price gouging.’
â€Å"Give people any ideas? It is happening, Mr. Secretary. Get out into the world and understand that it is happening. We have to do something about it because once again the American people are paying the price and the oil and energy companies are getting the benefit.â€Â
House Democrats’ Initiatives to Bring Down High Gas/Energy Prices
Lower Energy Prices by Ending Price Gouging by Oil CompaniesEmpower the Federal Trade Commission to end price gouging by oil companies. - Give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority to prosecute oil companies engaged in price gouging
- Empower the federal government to impose tough penalties on companies that are found to have ripped off consumers -- through triple damages.
- Fines from price-gouging companies would be used to expand the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or to provide relief to consumers paying record prices at the pump.
Transparency in gas pricing.- Require oil companies to disclose publicly how they determine their wholesale prices for gasoline and other motor fuels.
- Transparency would give consumers the necessary information to understand if they are being gouged.
Apply antitrust laws to OPEC oil producers.- Apply U.S. antitrust laws to OPEC nations engaged in price manipulation and price gouging.
Investigate whether oil companies deliberately reduced refinery capacity to increase profits. - Call on Bush Administration to investigate whether oil companies colluded to limit refinery capacity in order to increase profits.
Stop tax breaks for oil and gas companies at times of high energy prices. - Temporarily suspend royalty relief payments to oil companies drilling on the outer continental shelf and public lands, when the price of oil is high -- above $40 a barrel, or $5 per cubic thousand feet.
- Funds saved would be redirected to hurricane disaster relief and low-income energy assistance.
Bring Relief from High Energy Prices to ConsumersHelp families with skyrocketing home heating costs. - In light of the skyrocketing costs, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) must be fully funded for FY 2006.
- Give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) authority to prosecute oil companies engaged in price gouging
- Empower the federal government to impose tough penalties on companies that are found to have ripped off consumers -- through triple damages.
- Fines from price-gouging companies would be used to expand the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or to provide relief to consumers paying record prices at the pump.
Transparency in gas pricing.- Require oil companies to disclose publicly how they determine their wholesale prices for gasoline and other motor fuels.
- Transparency would give consumers the necessary information to understand if they are being gouged.
Apply antitrust laws to OPEC oil producers.- Apply U.S. antitrust laws to OPEC nations engaged in price manipulation and price gouging.
Investigate whether oil companies deliberately reduced refinery capacity to increase profits. - Call on Bush Administration to investigate whether oil companies colluded to limit refinery capacity in order to increase profits.
Stop tax breaks for oil and gas companies at times of high energy prices. - Temporarily suspend royalty relief payments to oil companies drilling on the outer continental shelf and public lands, when the price of oil is high -- above $40 a barrel, or $5 per cubic thousand feet.
- Funds saved would be redirected to hurricane disaster relief and low-income energy assistance.
Bring Relief from High Energy Prices to ConsumersHelp families with skyrocketing home heating costs. - In light of the skyrocketing costs, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) must be fully funded for FY 2006.
- Apply U.S. antitrust laws to OPEC nations engaged in price manipulation and price gouging.
Investigate whether oil companies deliberately reduced refinery capacity to increase profits. - Call on Bush Administration to investigate whether oil companies colluded to limit refinery capacity in order to increase profits.
Stop tax breaks for oil and gas companies at times of high energy prices. - Temporarily suspend royalty relief payments to oil companies drilling on the outer continental shelf and public lands, when the price of oil is high -- above $40 a barrel, or $5 per cubic thousand feet.
- Funds saved would be redirected to hurricane disaster relief and low-income energy assistance.
Bring Relief from High Energy Prices to ConsumersHelp families with skyrocketing home heating costs. - In light of the skyrocketing costs, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) must be fully funded for FY 2006.
- Temporarily suspend royalty relief payments to oil companies drilling on the outer continental shelf and public lands, when the price of oil is high -- above $40 a barrel, or $5 per cubic thousand feet.
- Funds saved would be redirected to hurricane disaster relief and low-income energy assistance.
Bring Relief from High Energy Prices to ConsumersHelp families with skyrocketing home heating costs. - In light of the skyrocketing costs, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) must be fully funded for FY 2006.
- In light of the skyrocketing costs, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) must be fully funded for FY 2006.