[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 86 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1171-E1172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MIDWEST CLEAN AIR GASOLINE RESERVE ACT JUNE 29, 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JUDY BIGGERT

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2000

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I represent a suburban Chicago district 
and, as we all know, the Chicago area now faces the highest gas prices 
in the nation. This is not a distinction of which we are proud or 
happy.
  Today, Governor Ryan of Illinois and the Illinois General Assembly 
took an important step to provide the residents of Illinois with some 
relief, and they should be commended for their swift action. In one 
day, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed a law that 
suspends the Illinois gas tax for six months. They were forced to take 
the extraordinary action of sacrificing badly needed road improvement 
funds in order to give consumers at the pumps an extra ten or twenty 
cents per gallon relief.
  We cannot allow residents of states like Illinois and Wisconsin to 
confront this situation again in the future. The burden is just too 
great on individuals and small businesses in the region.
  That's why I rise today to announce the introduction of a bill to 
help prevent future crises involving the price and supply of gasoline 
in the Midwest.
  The Midwest Clean Air Gasoline Reserve Act would give the Secretary 
of Energy the authority to establish a Midwest reserve of reformulated 
gasoline or the petroleum products used to make reformulated gasoline. 
The President would release this stock of reformulated gasoline in the 
event of a severe energy supply disruption, a severe price increase, or 
another emergency affecting the Midwest.
  We know now that two factors adversely affected the supply of 
gasoline in the Midwest, causing prices to rise. In addition to 
pipeline disruptions, Phase 2 of the Reformulated Gasoline--or RFG--
program required the inventory of Phase 1 RFG gasoline to be purged 
from the supply chain. In this case, supply was interrupted at the same 
time that inventories were depleted. And in the Midwest in particular, 
sources of reformulated gasoline are few and far between, and difficult 
to replace when supply is interrupted. As a result, the price of 
reformulated gasoline spiked.
  With a Midwest, Clean Air Gasoline Reserve in his arsenal, the 
President may have been able to combat this crisis when it presented 
itself, at least reducing the initial impact on consumers.
  This bill will give any President an important tool with which to 
respond to energy supply

[[Page E1172]]

disruptions. I would urge my colleagues to support it.

                          ____________________