[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 116 (Tuesday, September 26, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H8066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IMPENDING ENERGY PRICE CRISIS

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, we find ourselves facing impending cold 
weather and a looming energy crisis. Oil prices and high energy costs 
must be an issue on the Nation's agenda.
  The rising cost of home heating oil will have a devastating economic 
impact on 36 percent of the households in the Northeast. We in Congress 
cannot ignore this.
  Currently, home heating oil inventories are down. In fact, stocks of 
crude oil, gasoline and heating oil in the United States have not been 
at levels this low since the middle 1970s, when our economy was thrown 
into turmoil.
  The demand for fuel is predicted to increase significantly this 
winter. We need to do a few things. A home heating oil reserve in the 
Northeast with an effective trigger is critical to the stability and 
well-being of all of our constituents.
  I am pleased that the President has heeded the bipartisan call of 
many in Congress to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower 
the price of oil and satisfy some of the demand. Only a small 
percentage of the released oil will be used for home heating oil, but 
the message the President has given is clear: the Low Income Home 
Energy Assistance Program and its funding and weatherization assistance 
is also essential for low-income families.
  We must continue to take steps to ensure that low-income families and 
seniors do not have to make the choice between staying warm or buying 
food.

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