[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 294 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 294

 Addressing the decision by OPEC countries to decrease oil production.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2003

 Mr. Deutsch submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Addressing the decision by OPEC countries to decrease oil production.

Whereas OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) has recently 
        decided to decrease production by 900,000 barrels a day;
Whereas this decrease includes a 300,000 barrels per day cut by Saudi Arabia, 
        the largest OPEC supplier;
Whereas the executive branch has recently reaffirmed the belief that oil prices 
        should be determined by market forces so that adequate supplies can be 
        ensured;
Whereas the production decrease by OPEC will have the intended effect of 
        increased oil prices and revenue only if oil-producing countries that 
        are not members of OPEC take no action to offset the production decrease 
        by OPEC;
Whereas at least 45 percent of oil imported into the United States originates in 
        OPEC countries, according to the Energy Information Administration at 
        the Department of Energy;
Whereas since the United States imports more than 9,000,000,000 barrels of oil 
        each year, the $1.11 price-per-barrel increase that followed the 
        announcement of tighter OPEC supply restrictions would result in more 
        than $10,000,000,000 per year added to the cost of oil imported into the 
        United States;
Whereas the increase in oil import revenues to Saudi Arabia would go directly to 
        the Saudi treasury, and numerous reports indicate that Saudi Arabia 
        continues to make financial contributions to terrorist organizations 
        such as Hamas; and
Whereas the dependency of the United States on oil from OPEC countries is having 
        a detrimental effect on the national security, economy, and foreign 
        policy of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) the Congress urges oil-producing countries that are not 
        members of OPEC, including Russia, Mexico, and Norway, to 
        increase their production of oil in order to offset efforts by 
        OPEC to increase oil prices and the revenue of OPEC countries; 
        and
            (2) the Congress recognizes that all the people of the 
        United States, including elected officials in Congress and the 
        executive branch, need to address the serious issue of oil 
        consumption by the United States by considering such issues 
        as--
                    (A) the amount of money that the United States 
                spends on foreign oil;
                    (B) the purposes for which the money is used by its 
                recipients; and
                    (C) the dependence of the United States on oil, and 
                specifically on oil from OPEC countries and its effect 
                on the national security of the United States.
                                 <all>