[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 91 (Thursday, July 13, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7454-S7455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY PRICES

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, let me, first of all, say to my colleague 
from Kansas, I am always delighted to hear his comments and thoughts.
  I wanted to be here earlier to discuss with our colleague and friend 
from North Dakota, Senator Dorgan, the growing problem we are all 
hearing about from our constituents all across this country, and that 
is the ever-rising cost of gasoline and petroleum-related products. 
There has been a staggering increase in the price of oil and gasoline 
which is having a huge impact on working families in this country. 
Their weekly earnings have risen less than one-half of 1 percent over 
the last 5 years, yet the cost of gasoline has more than doubled over 
that same period of time.
  These charts and graphs give an indication of what has happened to 
the price. Beginning in 2000, it was $1.47. Just last week, in my 
hometown in Connecticut, the price ranged from $3.15 per gallon to 
$3.35 per gallon, depending upon the quality of fuel you were buying, 
and the national average is creeping closer to $3.00 per gallon. We 
have seen the price of oil soar from just over $30 per barrel in 2001 
to an excessive $75 per barrel this week.

[[Page S7455]]

  Most of us are aware, with the existing product from previously dug 
wells around the world, large profits can be made at $30 and $40 per 
barrel. So when you start talking about $75 per barrel, you get some 
indication of the level of profits that are being made.
  I mentioned what it is like for people out there who are struggling 
to make ends meet and hold their families together. Weekly earnings 
have risen only .4 percent since 2001, adjusted for inflation, while 
gasoline prices have risen 130.5 percent since that same year, adjusted 
for inflation. When you start talking about people on fixed incomes or 
people earning the minimum wage, the problem becomes more pronounced. 
We have gone 9 years now with no increase whatsoever in the federal 
minimum wage. We tried here only a few weeks ago, prior to the Fourth 
of July recess, for a $2.10 per hour increase in the minimum wage over 
the next several years, from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. That is 
a very modest increase in that minimum wage, but it would make a huge 
difference for people out there who are trying to make ends meet.
  Again, we have a limited time to talk about this, but Senator Dorgan 
and I are once again going to ask our colleagues to consider the idea 
of a rebate going back to people who are trying to make ends meet. We 
ask, when you have profits in excess of $40 per barrel, to either 
invest those profits back into the development of new product or new 
technologies or rebate part of those profits back to consumers.
  I know the Presiding Officer cares deeply about this issue and has 
lectured us on numerous occasions about the importance of supply. I 
don't fault the industry for trying to make a profit. What I would like 
to know is, are the companies investing in production, alternative 
sources of energy, and new technology? I would like to know they are 
going to do something, in addition to making a profit, that will 
actually increase our domestic supply.
  We wake up today to find the region of the world on which we depend 
tremendously for our supplies is literally aflame, a tinderbox that is 
exploding while we are gathered here. Yet we sit around here almost 
pretending that nothing is wrong as we continue to watch oil and 
gasoline prices skyrocket and oil companies record huge profits.
  One of the major oil companies, in its 2004 annual report, told its 
shareholders:

       We achieved the highest net income in our history, $18.2 
     billion. This was 48 percent higher than in 2003, as a result 
     of higher oil and gas prices.

  So they recognize themselves that their profits are occurring because 
of these skyrocketing prices. Why not put some of those resources into 
developing alternatives, or doing a better job to see to it we become 
less dependent on the Venezuelas and the Middle East for our supplies? 
And if not, why not rebate some of the profits back to people who are 
struggling to make ends meet?
  Senator Dorgan and I are asking the leaders to provide us a limited 
amount of time to debate oil and gasoline prices and other energy 
issues. Nothing has captivated the attention of our public as has this 
issue. I don't know why we can't find some time to talk about ideas to 
provide relief to people we represent. We spent more time in the last 
couple of weeks talking about gay marriage and flag burning. How about 
gasoline prices?
  How about saying to the American public: Listen to the ideas we have 
to reduce the pressure you are feeling economically. That would be a 
welcome surprise to most Americans, to hear us talk about something 
they deeply care about. At the appropriate time, the Senator from North 
Dakota and I will be offering some language, once again asking our 
colleagues to join us in a bipartisan way to see if we can't encourage 
the industry to do something more than just brag about its profits.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is 4 minutes 12 seconds on 
Republican side. Who yields time?
  Mr. GREGG. We yield back the remainder of time in morning business.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GREGG. I thank the Chair.

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