[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1608-S1609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2275. A bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the 
exportation of Alaska North Slope crude oil; to the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                     the oil supply improvement act

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, gasoline prices have reached astronomical 
levels. Nowhere has this price increase been more apparent than in 
California. For several years now, we have been experiencing gasoline 
prices well above what the rest of the nation has faced.
  But now, this problem, which started on the West Coast, has moved 
east and is affecting everyone. On Monday, the Energy Information 
Administration reported that the average price of gasoline in the 
United States was $1.52 per gallon--the tenth straight week gasoline 
prices have gone up. That price is

[[Page S1609]]

52 cents higher than the national average price just one year ago.
  As I said, in California, the problem is even worse. The average 
price for a gallon of gasoline is now $1.79--up 57 cents per gallon 
from this time last year.
  These prices are all-time highs.
  Mr. President, I believe that there are several steps that can be 
taken to address this problem and to help American consumers. We should 
impose a moratorium on major oil company mergers. We must have vigorous 
enforcement of the antitrust laws. We should increase the Corporate 
Average Fuel Economy standard for SUVs and light trucks so that it 
equals the standard for cars. And, we should ban the exportation of 
crude oil from Alaska's North Slope.
  I want to talk about this last suggestion, because it is the subject 
of a bill I am introducing today, called the Oil Supply Improvement 
Act.
  For 22 years--from 1973 to 1995--the export of Alaska North Slope oil 
was banned. We banned it to reduce our dependence on imported oil and 
to keep gasoline prices down.
  Unfortunately, at the behest of oil producers--and despite warnings 
of higher gasoline prices--the ban was lifted in 1995. Clearly, the 
fears of those of us who opposed lifting the ban have become reality. 
The General Accounting Office has confirmed that lifting the export ban 
resulted in an increase in the price of crude oil by about $1 per 
barrel.
  In fact, some oil companies have used their ability to export this 
oil to keep the price of gasoline on the West Coast artificially high. 
The Federal Trade Commission makes this charge in its lawsuit to block 
the merger of BP-Amoco and Arco. That suit also alludes to secret 
internal company documents showing that there was price manipulation. 
Alaska North Slope oil was exported specifically to keep gasoline 
prices on the West Coast high.
  Mr. President, I am not suggesting that this bill alone is the 
complete solution. It is only one piece of the puzzle, and only one of 
the things that I am suggesting. But when we have an energy shortage in 
this country, we should not be sending the oil in this country 
somewhere else.
  This is oil that is on public lands--and that is transported along a 
federal right-of-way. Taxpayers own this product. In this time of an 
energy shortage, it is time to put American consumers and industry 
first.
                                 ______