[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9951-S9955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HURRICANE KATRINA
Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues, especially the
senior Senator from Louisiana, Senator Landrieu, and the distinguished
Senators from Mississippi and Alabama for all of their leadership
during this Hurricane Katrina crisis. I thank all of my colleagues who
have offered their heartfelt thoughts and prayers and very concrete
help over these past 2 very difficult weeks.
I arrived back yesterday from the battlefields of the other gulf war.
I stand before you to offer my firsthand report. I don't mean to be
overly dramatic in my use of the analogy to war. I mean to be accurate.
I mean to effectively convey the magnitude of the destruction, the
enormity and complexity of the ongoing human impacts, and, perhaps most
important, the level of national resolve and commitment that we need to
win the recovery effort.
We have all seen very powerful and destructive storms come ashore. We
have seen them cause enormous damage, create short-term flooding, even
take lives. And then the next day we respond and the residents of the
stricken area walk through their community and try to begin picking up
the pieces.
This is different. It is not just fiercer or bigger, it is wholly
different.
Yes, Katrina was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever. When it
hit Louisiana's coast, it did so with sustained winds of 140 miles per
hour. Its low pressure reading of 920 at landfall made it one of the
three most ferocious storms ever to hit the United States, along with
Camille in 1969 and the Labor Day Storm of 1935. But it was much more
than that. Yes, Katrina was also one of the largest hurricanes ever
geographically. Those ferocious winds extended 100 miles from the eye
of the storm, which means they pounded the stricken area for hour upon
hour upon hour, a devastated area roughly the size of Great Britain;
roughly 2\1/2\ times larger than the area hit by Hurricane Andrew in
1992.
[[Page S9952]]
But it was even more than that. You see, Katrina was a ferocious,
huge hurricane that hit a treasured coastline, an entire region,
including a major American metropolitan area, and that population
center is one of the poorest in the country, and it is the only one
that sits largely under sea level, protected by levees until some of
the levees broke.
What does that mean? Storm surges of up to 25 feet; large portions of
southeast Louisiana with long-term flooding of up to 20 feet; tens of
thousands of people who had not evacuated, most in one-story wooden
houses, driven to their attics and roofs, many to be trapped there.
The crisis did not stop or stabilize there. In the ensuing days, it
meant the breakdown of basic institutions: the failure of all
communication systems; lawlessness, which began spiraling out of
control; thousands of evacuees collecting in safe havens such as the
Louisiana Superdome and the New Orleans Convention Center, which
quickly became some of the most unsafe hellholes imaginable.
What does it all mean now? It means a major American metropolitan
area evacuated. This is the first time this has happened since the
Civil War. There is that war theme again. But the difference is,
American cities have grown quite a bit since then. This metro area is
home to 1.3 million people. It means hundreds of thousands of
evacuees from southeast Louisiana. These are numbers comparable to some
of the historic dislocations during World War II, but the difference is
it is right here in America.
During all of this I was in southeast Louisiana. My wife Wendy and I
packed up our minivan and our four kids and drove to Memphis the
Saturday before the storm. After leaving them safely with family, I
returned to Baton Rouge that Sunday, where I slept in a true safe
haven, the State Police compound, and began traveling into all of the
devastated areas beginning that Tuesday morning.
Much like in war, what I saw covered the whole spectrum of human
activity. Indeed, it tended to concentrate on the two ends of the
spectrum: great acts of personal heroism followed by a truly awesome
military operation beginning on day five on one end of the spectrum;
looting and worse and bureaucratic incompetence on the other end.
Let me be very clear and precise about this because some reports of
my critique of the early relief effort have caused some consternation.
I was quoted after the first few days as saying that the early
government relief effort was a failure. I was quoted correctly and this
was clearly, unequivocally, indisputably true. In that initial relief
effort, FEMA failed us miserably and Louisiana's hurricane preparation
and emergency bureaucracy failed us miserably, too.
Don't take my word for it. Talk to the mother with her young daughter
whom I left at the Lafayette shelter. They were still in shock, not
from the storm but from the hell on Earth that they had been placed
into at the Louisiana Superdome. Or talk to nurse Jody Lopez, who was
holed up in Lindsey Boggs Memorial Hospital, or Dr. Tom Kiernan,
trapped at Tulane Hospital, who struggled to keep critical care
patients alive for days with no sign of help in sight.
Thank God that while the bureaucrats failed, others succeeded. The
first group of heroes who held on and overcame amazing challenges in
those first few days were local leaders and citizens on the ground.
This was true in every community I visited--New Orleans, St. Bernard,
Slidell, Bogalusa, Amite, Kenner, to name a few. Sheriff's deputies in
St. Bernard were living on a small riverboat so they could continue
their vital work. Eight days after the storm most had not seen their
homes or talked to their families, but they were committed to keeping
St. Bernard safe and putting their duty above their families and
property.
There were hundreds of private citizens such as David Fakaouri of
Baton Rouge, who pulled his boat down to New Orleans and spent days
combing the city for survivors, saving more than 60 people personally.
These private citizen rescuers slept in their boats and trucks, using
their own fuel, and witnessed suffering at a level we cannot imagine.
Local leaders such as State Senator Ben Nevers of Washington Parish
worked tirelessly to secure police reinforcements, water, food,
gasoline, even chain saws to cut out of isolated areas.
There was the lunch crew at Belle Chasse High School in Plaquemines
Parish who, operating on emergency power only, fed hundreds of relief
workers every day. When I left them, they were working to feed the Army
Rangers who had arrived to provide support and security.
These local leaders and private citizens were also aided by
counterparts from around Louisiana and around the country. These
counterparts collected food, water, ice, generators, fuel and other
necessities, and with no plan and with no budget they got it to
devastated areas, in many cases over a week ahead of the bureaucrats.
Local police units from communities in Kentucky and Illinois were
among the first to show up and offer assistance to our local police
forces. Similar dispatches from communities in California and Ohio sent
security reinforcements to their comrades in Gretna.
Wal-Mart voluntarily offered its Kenner store as the food supply and
distribution center for the entire city of Kenner the day after the
storm and then, after the Kenner store was depleted, Wal-Mart National
continued to send two truckloads of relief per day to keep that effort
going.
Members of the Young President's Organization raised millions in
essential supplies to turn over to their fellow YPO member, State
Senator Walter Boasso. Walter used his company barges and worked with
other leaders to set up their own dock operation and get supplies to
St. Bernard. Acadian Ambulance is a private Lafayette-based ambulance
service whose people not only inundated the area with ambulances to
evacuate hospitals and nursing homes, but who actually created and
implemented an ad hoc but effective evacuation plan while the State
Department of Health and Hospitals dithered.
These local leaders and private citizens, heroes both from throughout
the devastated area and around the country, got us through those first
crucial days. And then another group of heroes helicoptered in, the men
and women of our military. In fact, we turned a corner in our relief
efforts the Friday after the storm, day five, because it became a full-
scale military operation. And with that came a completely different
mindset, a completely different culture than the bureaucratic one we
had been fighting for 5 days. ``We can't do that,'' and ``That's not
our job exactly,'' was replaced with, not ``Yes,'' but ``Yes, sir.''
Members of the Coast Guard who were out saving lives Monday afternoon,
before the storm's winds even died down, rescued more than 33,000
people.
U.S. Army LTG Russell Honore from Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, assumed
command of the Active-Duty military effort in our State and personally
took charge to establish that can-do attitude.
The 82nd Airborne, which took charge of New Orleans Airport that
Saturday, organized the operation overnight and evacuated thousands.
This same organization that landed in Normandy, where the Higgins boats
made in New Orleans were key to victory on D-Day, also helped in the
rescue efforts by dropping in food, water, and supplies to thousands in
need.
Coast Guard VADM Thad Allen is now in charge of relief efforts and
now finally pushing that same can-do attitude onto the bureaucracies of
FEMA and the State bureaucracies that floundered in the early response.
These groups of heroes--local leaders partnered with private citizens
and the military--have stabilized efforts in the devastated areas, but
enormous challenges remain. In the areas hardest hit by Katrina, these
challenges include reinstituting the necessities of a modern, civil
society, such as a full-fledged New Orleans police force and criminal
justice system, replacing countless miles of electricity and phone
lines, establishing huge communities of temporary housing, bulldozing
and rebuilding entire neighborhoods and parts of the metropolitan area,
and bringing businesses and jobs back.
Beyond the devastated area, the radius of our challenges has expanded
to wherever there are large numbers of evacuees--Houston, San Antonio,
Charlotte, Salt Like City, Milwaukee--and
[[Page S9953]]
every town and city across the rest of Louisiana. You see, so many of
the evacuees lived their lives paycheck to paycheck. So many others
depended on Social Security or other programs. They need immediate help
in all of those areas--well beyond Louisiana. Unfortunately, the
bureaucrats are still in charge of this.
As we tackle these challenges, let us remember what worked in the
initial relief effort and what didn't work. As we investigate--and we
must--let us focus on that central question: what worked and what
didn't work.
I have heard many Washington talking heads say that heads must roll.
I am all for that, and I have my own personal list. But that alone
isn't enough. We need to look at the big picture--not just which people
failed but which institutes and models failed, and, just as
importantly, which others worked against all odds. A new head
bureaucrat is not the solution to a failed bureaucracy. We need to look
at the successful can-do military culture and the startling success of
people-power and private initiative. Government outlays alone will not
rebuild a great American metropolitan area and repopulate it with jobs.
We need mega-enterprise zones to harness private sector investment
power and to recreate jobs. Returning to the same routine of begging
and scraping for flood and hurricane protection will ensure that this
happens again.
We need energy royalty sharing as a stable source of revenue for
Corps of Engineers hurricane protection projects, and we need the same
to use and to invest in coastal restoration to protect Louisiana and
our Nation's oil and gas supply.
Second, the tens of billions of dollars in government relief money
through FEMA and the State OEP--the very same agencies which failed
us--will lead to more failure. We need a Katrina reconstruction
commission headed by a no-nonsense, nonpolitical businessman manager so
that we will all have something lasting to show for this enormous
spending.
I am working with my colleagues in the Louisiana delegation, Senator
Landrieu, and all of our House Members, to introduce a comprehensive
legislative package for implementing these ideas, and we will be
outlining our specific proposals in the very near future.
In closing, let me make one final plea; that is, as we do all of
this, let us do it together in a sincere spirit of bipartisanship.
I saw horrific scenes in the days after the storm. I smelled
sweltering stench. But what I sometimes heard coming out of Washington
was more sickening--ridiculous arguments tying the suffering to the war
in Iraq and the Reagan deficit, talk of boycotting bipartisan hearings
and stonewalling independent commissions. Nobody in the stricken area
is talking that nonsense. They are rebuilding lives.
So perhaps the best thing we can do as leaders is to follow--follow
the basic goodness and common sense of Louisianians and Americans. If
we don't, if we allow this matter to become just another partisan
political football, then we will have done one thing; that is, to
victimize the victims of Hurricane Katrina all over again.
Two of Louisiana's beloved football teams--the New Orleans Saints and
the LSU Tigers--lifted our spirit with victories this past weekend. The
Saints beat the odds, and the Tigers won in the game's last second with
a pass verging on a Hail Mary. It reinforced for us what we already
knew: that even in dark times, hope springs eternal, prayers are
answered, and a can-do attitude pays dividends. I have no doubt that
Louisiana's resolve and spirit will be demonstrated in the coming
months as our families rebuild their lives and their communities.
America is joining us in that same spirit. Let us all follow their
example.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I was pleased to be in the Chamber to
hear the remarks of the junior Senator from Louisiana and want to
sincerely say to all of our colleagues who are here that Senator Vitter
and I offer our views about the conditions in Louisiana and the gulf
coast having been there, as Senator Vitter said, through almost every
day of this horrific and devastating tragedy, a tragedy not just for
our city of New Orleans and the parish of Jefferson but the region of
the gulf coast.
I thank Senator Vitter for his words to our colleagues about the way
we have urged our delegation to work in a bipartisan spirit, with
commonsense solutions and out-of-the-box thinking to put together a
framework of a plan for rebuilding that calls on the best from our
National Government, the best from our State government, the best from
our local government, the best from our private sector, individual
citizens, and nonprofit communities to rebuild this region and rebuild
our cities and our towns, our counties and our parishes, in a way that
honors the spirit of the great Americans who have called this place
home for over 250 years.
I thank the Senator for his remarks. He has been a steady voice of
outstanding confidence for the people of our State, and his views and
his wisdom that he shared with all of us today truly is inspirational
to us all. I thank him very much for the personal invitation to be with
him as he spoke today.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coburn). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask the current business be set aside.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Amendment No. 1703
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I have an amendment to send to the desk,
and I ask for its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Pryor], for himself and Ms.
Mikulski, proposes an amendment numbered 1703.
Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be
dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To require the FTC to conduct an immediate investigation into
gasoline price-gouging, and for other purposes)
On page 190, between lines 14 and 155, insert the
following:
Sec. 522. Of the funds appropriated to the Federal Trade
Commission by this Act, not less than $1,000,000 shall be
used by the Commission to conduct an immediate investigation
into nationwide gasoline prices in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina; Provided, That the investigation shall include (1)
any evidence of price-gouging by companies with total United
States wholesale sales of gasoline and petroleum distillates
for calendar 2004 in excess of $500,000,000 and by any retail
distributor of gasoline and petroleum distillates for use as
motor vehicle fuel against which multiple formal complaints
(that identify the location of a particular retail
distributor and provide contact information for the
complainant) of price-gouging were filed in August or
September, 2005, with a Federal or State consumer protection
agency, (2) a comparison of, and an explanation of the
reasons for changes in, profit levels of such companies for
gasoline and petroleum distillates for use as motor vehicle
fuel during the 12-month period ending on August 31, 2005,
and their profit levels for the month of September, 2005,
including information for particular companies on a basis
that does not permit the identification of any company to
which the information relates, (3) a summary of tax
expenditures (as defined in section 3(3) of the Congressional
Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622(3))
for such companies, (4) the effects of increased gasoline
prices and gasoline price-gouging on economic activity in the
United States, and (5) the overall cost of increased gasoline
prices and gasoline price-gouging to the economy, including
the impact on consumers' purchasing power in both declared
State and National disaster areas and elsewhere; Provided
further, That, in conducting its investigation, the
Commission shall treat as prima facie evidence of price-
gouging any finding that the average price of gasoline
available for sale to the public in September, 2005, or
thereafter in a market area located in an area designated as
a State or National disaster area because of Hurricane
Katrina, or in any other area where price-gouging complaints
have been filed because of Hurricane Katrina with a Federal
or State consumer protection agency, exceeded the average
price of such gasoline in that area for the month of August,
2005, unless the Commission finds substantial evidence that
the increase is substantially attributable to additional
costs in connection with the production, transportation,
delivery, and sale of gasoline in that area or to national or
international market trends; Provided further,
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That the Commission shall provide information on the progress
of the investigation to the Senate and House Appropriations
Committees, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, and the House of Representatives Committee on
Energy and Commerce every 30 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, shall provide those Committees a written report
90 days after such date, and shall transmit a final report to
those Committees, together with its findings and
recommendations, no later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act; Provided further, That the Commission
shall transmit recommendations, based on its findings, to the
Congress for any legislation necessary to protect consumers
from gasoline price-gouging in both State and National
disaster areas and elsewhere; Provided further, That chapter
35 of title 44, United States Code, does not apply to the
collection of information for the investigation required by
this section; Provided further, That if, during the
investigation, the Commission obtains evidence that a person
may have violated a criminal law, the Commission may transmit
that evidence to appropriate Federal or State authorities;
and Provided further, That nothing in this section affects
any other authority of the Commission to disclose
information.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I will visit with my colleagues today about
a problem this Nation is facing, something very critical to our economy
and critical to every section of this great land. It is something I was
reminded of time and time again when I was at home in Arkansas during
the August recess: It is the high price of gasoline.
The price of gas in the last month has risen across the Nation
anywhere from 30 to 70 cents per gallon. In Arkansas and throughout the
country gas prices are at an unprecedented high. Unfortunately,
Hurricane Katrina made a bad situation worse. The Gulf of Mexico and
the State of Louisiana are absolutely essential in our Nation's
production of crude oil and gasoline. Hurricane Katrina has caused
major disruptions in the supply of these crucial commodities. This is
one reason for the recent spike in the retail price of gasoline, but I
am certain it is not the sole cause.
As I traveled my home State last month, I heard from countless
citizens who believe the oil companies are taking advantage of them.
Can you blame them? It is hard for the people in my State, as I am sure
it is for the people in other Members' home States, to fill up their
gas tanks and pay record high prices at the pump while, at the same
time, opening up the business page and seeing the oil companies are
making record profits. That does not sit well with people.
I believe the consumers have a legitimate concern, a legitimate
question about why prices are so high, why they have been trending up
in the last year or so. We should have an investigation. If price
gouging is occurring, we need to know that. If it is occurring--I am
not saying it is--if it is occurring, we need to stop that activity
dead in its tracks.
This is why I offer this amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and
State appropriations bill that directs the Federal Trade Commission to
conduct an immediate investigation into nationwide gasoline prices in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We must find out--when I say ``find
out,'' I do not mean speculate, not accuse, not assume but find out
whether gas price gouging is occurring through the supply chain or
distribution markets. And if price gouging is occurring, we must punish
those who take advantage of this national tragedy.
I thank my colleague from Maryland, Senator Mikulski, who has been a
leader on this issue and who has helped shape this amendment and is one
of the cosponsors of this amendment. I thank her for her leadership.
She has done a great job not just on this legislation but many others
as we all know.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we have seen this country come
together. It has been very heartwarming. Today I have been on the phone
with people all over my State who are operating these camps for people
who have been evacuated from the gulf coast area. It is encouraging to
see communities, to see people come out of the woodwork to help. It has
been very encouraging to see churches in my State go the extra mile for
people who need it the most. I am very encouraged by that.
We also need to be mindful of what high gas prices do to this
Nation's economy. We need to know who the honest brokers are. We need
to know when gas stations raise their prices, are they doing it because
they need to, because they are being charged, or are they doing it to
make a quick buck? Those are legitimate questions.
We also need to know what companies sold their gas at a higher price
because they needed to and what companies sold their gas at a higher
price with greed as their motivation.
The people in my State and the people in your State and the people in
all of our States have a right to know why gas prices are so high right
now. This will cause a great hardship for the economy, for every sector
of this country. Everything we buy, everything we pay for, has a fuel
component built into it. We understand that.
As I wind down, we have had complaints from all over my State. We had
one guy write in and say the price jumped 60 cents in 1 day. I know
other Members have had complaints. I appreciate consideration of this
amendment and appreciate my colleagues looking at it. It is important
for this country. It is important for the Senate to take up this issue.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, may I make a request of the Senator from
Vermont, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee? I want to be
able to speak on the Pryor amendment. I wonder, given what the Senator
needs to do and, of course, the responsibilities that are pressing,
should we do that after this?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we have 20 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Twenty minutes equally divided and under the
previous order.
Mr. LEAHY. I ask the Senator from Maryland how much time does the
Senator seek.
Ms. MIKULSKI. It was 5, but I could get it to 3.
Mr. LEAHY. Could we start ours later?
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me
suggest it has been the request of some of the people on the Judiciary
Committee that we delay about 10 to 12, maybe 15 minutes, and that
gives the Senator from Maryland an opportunity to be heard. Is that
acceptable?
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, why don't we begin debate on mercury, and I
ask unanimous consent we begin it at 12:17. That gives us time for the
Senator from Maryland. I know we are going to break in the Judiciary
Committee, and that would give plenty of time.
Mr. INHOFE. We will say 20 after.
Mr. LEAHY. Twenty after.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent
request that we proceed to S.J. Res. 20 at 12:20?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I rise as a cosponsor of the Pryor
amendment. Why? Because American people believe there is gasoline price
gouging. We have to find out if there is. What this amendment does is
add $1 million for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether
there is price gouging.
There seems to be evidence of price gouging throughout the supply
chain and in the distribution markets. The impact of gasoline price
spikes on our country is severe. They impact people's day-to-day lives
at the family level, at the small business level, and at the macro
level. And the American people believe deep down there is gouging.
All of America knows that Hurricane Katrina had a terrible impact on
our country, that the storm had a significant impact on oil production
and oil refining capacity in the gulf. We understand refineries were
down and badly damaged, distribution pipelines were affected, shipping
channels were blocked due to obstructive deposits and, of course, we
have seen offshore drilling impacted. But these disruptions happened
over a 3 week period. Why were the gas prices being spiked an hour and
a half after Katrina happened? We saw price spikes in Maryland even
before that. Marylanders are hot about this and so is this Senator.
Now, my cost of commuting from Baltimore to Washington has already
gone up $30 a week. I can afford it; I am a Senator. But I saw on a
local Baltimore TV station a woman who filled up her minivan--a soccer
mom--and it was $90. She put her head on the windshield and wept about
how her family was going to afford filling the family vehicle with gas.
[[Page S9955]]
My Governor is also deeply concerned. He brought in the gasoline
station operators to find out why prices were the third highest in the
Nation. Little Maryland, behind California. And who are the other two
highest? New York and the District of Columbia, our neighbor.
What are we saying? The average price in Maryland is over $3,
compared to $2.46 just a month ago. Throughout the Baltimore-Washington
corridor, gas is selling at $3.49, $3.39. But do you know what. We
think there is some kind of deal going on because it can vary within a
3-mile radius. Over where I live, gas has been selling for $3.63 a
gallon. If you go into another neighborhood, just 5 miles away, it is
selling for $3.03--a 60-cent-a-gallon difference.
Tell me, who is pulling the strings? Who is setting these prices?
Well, right now, we could end up just with finger-pointing. I want to
pinpoint the problem.
First of all, I salute Governor Ehrlich for convening the meetings he
had. His meetings broke up, and he was not satisfied. He is going the
next step. I want us to now operate on facts because we see how
gasoline prices are affecting families, such as the cost of commuting
to work, and Maryland is a commuter State.
The price of gasoline is skyrocketing. It is affecting small
businesses, from the florists who deliver flowers, to the pharmacies
that deliver prescription drugs, and so on.
Then, you look at our businesses. So much of our food supply comes to
our communities, our wonderful supermarkets, by truck. Also, you go out
along the Chesapeake Bay where people love our crabs, but my watermen
are just aghast at what it costs to take their boats out to harvest
seafood.
So I could give story after story. But Marylanders want to know, is
there price gouging? If there is, we have to go after it and stop it.
We know there are record high profits in the oil and gas industry. We
know there is price variance with the oil companies. We know there is
price variance even block by block as to how much consumers are being
charged for gasoline.
But, most of all, we know there is going to have to be shared
sacrifice because of Katrina. We are going to have to examine how we
build refineries in our country. We have to have an oil conservation
strategy; conservation could be our next North Slope. We should focus
on those things.
But right now I am worried about what is being charged at the pump.
We want to make sure there is not price gouging, and that there is not
price fixing. We are asking the Federal Trade Commission to
investigate. I want to advocate an amendment to put money in the
Federal checkbook to do so.
Mr. President, know that we Marylanders want to move ahead, we want
to cooperate, but we want to know why gasoline is so expensive and what
is behind the price spikes and price fluctuations?
And hello, oil companies out there, if you are listening, if you want
to respond to me, I am right there at 503, in the Senate Hart Building.
I have an open line to listen to what you have to say because I am
getting an earful in Maryland.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
____________________