[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S6497]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY PRICES

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise this morning to talk about the 
high gas prices we are seeing all over America and certainly on the 
west coast, where Washington State is paying some of the highest gas 
prices in the Nation.
  My point this morning is that we are approaching the Memorial Day 
weekend in which Americans will be remembering loved one and wanting to 
spend time with their families, but this Memorial Day might go on 
record as having the highest gas prices in our Nation's history. That 
means we in the Senate need to act on energy legislation that not only 
diversifies us off fossil fuels into more renewables and alternative 
fuels, as well as pass energy conservation measures, it also means we 
need to protect consumers with a strong bill that makes price gouging 
and market manipulation of energy markets illegal. We need to assure 
that there are tough Federal penalties on the books so that any kind of 
market manipulations will be met with fines and penalties.
  I know many people think this is all just about supply and demand. It 
is pretty hard to tell the people of Washington State it is just about 
supply and demand when we have five refineries in the State of 
Washington and most of our oil comes from Alaska. And people say we are 
an isolated market. In fact, there are schools in our State that are 
feeling the brunt. One of the school districts in the Yakima Valley, 
where buses travel more than 2,200 miles each day, will have to spend 
about $125,000 more this year on fuel. That is revenue which could go 
to books or hiring teachers or other needs for the school. In Spokane, 
the volunteers for Meals on Wheels, which usually delivers 350 meals a 
day to homebound elderly and disabled residents, are having to cut back 
on their routes. Another constituent called the office to say he was 
having trouble paying for gas he needed to make the 80-mile round trip 
to the Tri-Cities to get kidney dialysis for his wife. That loving 
husband said he was either going to have to quit his job or move closer 
to the facility so they could avoid paying high prices of gasoline. So 
while the pundits are talking about just supply and demand, my 
constituents and many constituents across this country are feeling the 
pain at the pump.
  It is time that we act and pass the Cantwell-Smith bill, which we 
will have a chance to do when we return after the Memorial Day recess. 
This legislation is based on a New York law that has been held up in 
the courts and gives the Federal Trade Commission the ability to do the 
job that is needed to investigate potential market manipulation and 
price gouging. Many of the statutes that are on our books today are 
inadequate for looking at markets when there is a tight supply.
  I heard a great deal about supply and demand during the Western 
energy crisis. For probably my entire first year in office, that is all 
we heard about from various people who wanted to say that the Enron 
problems were nothing more than supply and demand and the failure to 
build more capacity. In fact, when it came down to it, there was a lot 
more to this question than lack of supply in California. It turned out 
that there were elaborate schemes to manipulate energy markets, with 
names such as Death Star, Get Shorty, Fat Boy, schemes in which people 
deliberately took supply off line or manipulated it just to drive up 
prices by suppressing supply.
  My colleagues have worked hard in the last several years to put into 
statute protections for consumers to make sure electricity and natural 
gas markets are not manipulated. This law is based on the same 
protections the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the SEC use to 
make sure there is not manipulation in those markets. Why not have the 
same protection for consumers as it relates to oil and gasoline 
markets?
  I hope that when we return, we will give great attention to this 
issue and not be swayed by those who think this is a simple market-
demand issue. If we want to protect the consumers of this country, we 
will pass a strong law that gives the ability for Federal regulators to 
do their job. I believe there are real U.S. jobs, pensions, and 
businesses on the line if we do not act and act aggressively. The 
American people want to know that the Senate is going to stand up and 
do something about these record gas prices. They want to know that they 
are paying a fair and market-based rate for fuel and that they will 
continue to have the transparency in oil markets to make sure prices 
are reasonable and affordable, and they want to be sure we are 
empowering the right people to make sure an investigation takes place.
  As I said, there is much that we need to do in the near term and the 
long term for our energy markets to diversify and to give consumers 
real choice at the pump, to make sure we are investing in conservation 
and fuel efficiency. But in the meantime, with tight energy markets, we 
need to make sure we are giving consumers the protection they need and 
to pass this legislation when we return after the recess.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator is recognized.

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