[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 4, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5042-S5043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY:
  S. 3081. A bill to establish a Petroleum Industry Antitrust Task 
Force within the Department of Justice; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, from the skyrocketing price of crude oil, 
now hovering well above $120 a barrel, to the $4.00 per gallon being 
sold at gas stations across the country, Americans are frustrated and 
there appears to be no end in sight.
  I've talked to school superintendents who have had to cut academic 
programs because the cost of fueling school buses has gone through the 
roof. I have met with constituents who are pleading for the Federal 
Government to take some kind of action to provide relief. Just last 
week, I held a field hearing in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to examine 
how gas prices were impacting small business owners, and the testimony 
was striking. Businesses that have been sustainable for decades are now 
wondering whether they'll be forced to shut their doors for good.
  Congress has received testimony from energy market experts and major 
oil company executives that the price of oil and gas can no longer be 
explained or predicted by normal market dynamics or their historic 
understanding of supply and demand forces. An executive from Exxon 
Mobil recently testified before Congress under oath that the price of 
crude oil should be about $50 to $55 per barrel based on the supply and 
demand fundamentals he had observed. Yet current crude oil prices are 
more than double that.
  We are all owed a clearer understanding as to why prices are so 
disconnected from what normal supply and demand would indicate. Why has 
the price of oil nearly doubled in the last year? Prices should not 
skyrocket like this in a properly functioning, competitive market. 
Twice I have written to

[[Page S5043]]

the Bush Administration demanding an investigation and twice I have 
received a response of ``we're working on it''. Well, this response 
rings awfully hollow to Americans struggling to understand what's going 
on.
  How the Federal Government responds to the changing dynamics of 
energy markets is vital to our continued national and economic 
security. If the Enron energy crisis taught us anything it is that 
consumers are best protected when energy markets are subject to 
aggressive oversight and enforcement. Unless there is a cop on the beat 
vigilantly policing energy markets--especially when supplies are tight 
in markets with extremely inelastic demand--sophisticated companies can 
fleece consumer pocketbooks without fear of penalty.
  Therefore, I am introducing legislation today to establish a new 
interagency Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force under the leadership of 
the Department of Justice to ensure that energy markets are free from 
illegal market manipulation or corporate corruption. This legislation 
will allow us to root out fraud and manipulation in all corners of the 
oil and gas marketplace, and restore consumer confidence. When that 
happens, everyone wins. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
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