[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 26 (Thursday, March 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E257-E258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WE NEED NOT SIT IDLY BY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 8, 2000

  Mr. BOEHLERT. Mr. Speaker, the citizens in my district and across the 
Northeast have struggled this winter to pay for their heating bills 
because of the extraordinary recent spikes in the price of home heating 
oil. The price of diesel fuel rose sharply, too, delivering a severe 
economic blow to farmers, truckers, and businesses that depend on 
shipping products by truck. And since just about everything we wear, 
eat and use in our daily lives is shipped over land by truck, the high 
cost of fuel took a bite out of just about every consumer's budget. 
It's been a rough winter for the Northeast.
  Unfortunately, it looks like we're not in the clear, yet. Recent 
headlines report that many experts now predict steep prices of gasoline 
during the peak driving season this summer, making this winter's crisis 
seem ``like a cakewalk'' by comparison.
  Why are we all of a sudden experiencing such exorbitant energy 
prices? Are they simply the outcome of free market forces, the 
perpetual balancing of supply and demand? No. We are being held hostage 
by oil producing countries--many of whom have accepted generous 
assistance from the United States in the

[[Page E258]]

past--who now have colluded to slash oil production, distort the 
market, and drive up the price of oil, which has climbed to about $32 a 
barrel, up from $12 this time last year.
  But we need not sit idly by. There are actions we can take to break 
the resolve of these oil producing countries. A release of oil from our 
Strategic Petroleum Reserves would have an immediate and dramatic 
impact on the price of oil--and send a strong signal to oil producing 
countries that the U.S. will not stand for unfair and harmful trade 
practices.
  Today I am introducing legislation expressing the sense of Congress 
that the President and Secretary of Energy immediately draw upon the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to supplement the oil market in the United 
States, bring the price of fuel back down to reasonable levels, and 
counter the anti-competitive practices of oil producing countries and 
the economic hardship they have caused Americans.
  Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senators 
Schumer and Collins. I urge my colleagues to join me in calling upon 
the Administration to use the authority it already has--and indeed has 
used in the past--to draw upon our oil reserves and come to the 
assistance of businesses and consumers across the country.

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