Pelosi: 'Today, Congress Took Action on a Real Solution to Lower the Price at the Pump'

Contact:Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi today released the following statement following House passage of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act by a vote of 385 to 25. The bill temporarily suspends the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) through the end of the year, as long as the price of crude oil remains above $75 per barrel.

"Today, Congress took action on a real solution to lower the price at the pump. By suspending deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve we can save consumers from 5 to 24 cents per gallon. This is a critical first step for America's families, businesses and our economy and, as the President said in 2006 when talking about the impact of suspending deliveries to the SPR, 'every little bit helps.'

"In the past, when the SPR has been tapped or deliveries have been suspended, consumers saw real savings. In 2000, after similar action, the price of oil dropped by one-third. By acting today, the New Direction Congress can reduce prices for Americans who are stretching their budgets to afford the high price at the pump.

"The President and Congressional Republicans maintain that we must act to open up ANWR and large swaths of the outer continental shelf. Even if we started drilling today in ANWR, we wouldn't see one drop of oil for 10 years, and the price at the pump would only be reduced by a little over one penny per gallon in the year 2030.

"The United States cannot drill its way to energy independence. As a nation, we have less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, but use 24 percent of the world's oil. The President and Congressional Republicans should abandon the 'drill and veto' policies of the past and work with Democrats to lower record gas prices at the pump by holding OPEC accountable for its cartel-pricing activities, investigate and punish price gougers and market manipulation and repeal the unnecessary subsidies to Big Oil in a time of record profits to invest in renewables."

"In both the House and Senate, we have demonstrated strong bipartisan support for temporarily suspending deliveries to the SPR. The House and Senate will work to finalize this legislation and send it to the President’s desk as soon as possible.â€Â