[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ASTRONOMICAL GAS PRICING

  (Mr. CALVERT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue my critique of the 
Clinton/Gore administration's role in the recent surge in gasoline and 
home heating oil prices. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the administration must 
shoulder much of the responsibility because they ignored the ``two 
Ds,'' domestic production and diplomacy.
  The United States imports the majority of its petroleum requirements 
largely because it is difficult to produce petroleum in this country. 
Mr. Speaker, the administration imposes serious limits on exploration, 
drilling, refining through an incredible permitting and regulatory 
scheme. These regulations force many facilities to shut down when oil 
prices are low and make it uneconomical to reopen when prices rise.
  This takes us to the second D, diplomacy. The administration knew 1 
year ago these prices were coming down the pipeline. Unfortunately, 
Secretary Richardson was preoccupied by a major spy scandal at the DOE. 
As he himself said on February 16, ``It is obvious that the Federal 
Government was not prepared. We were caught napping. We go 
complacent.''
  Mr. Speaker, this administration gets ``two Ds'' and an ``F.''

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