[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PASSING ALONG CONCERNS OF HIGH FUEL PRICES FROM ARKANSAS' THIRD 
                           DISTRICT RESIDENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Boozman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I spent an afternoon at 
JV Manufacturing in Springdale, Arkansas, listening to hardworking 
Arkansans talk about how the high price of gas is affecting their 
families. I promised them that I would bring their stories back to 
Washington and that I would put pressure on Congress to enact a 
commonsense energy policy that would help lower what they're forced to 
pay at the pump.
  Arkansans are paying an average of $4 per gallon, and many families 
in my district are having a hard time just making ends meet at all as 
all of their disposable income is going straight into the gas tank. Now 
is the time for this Congress to act. Let me mention a couple of 
stories that I heard, and then let me urge a few actions that we could 
take that would have immediate relief.
  I met a single mom who is working full time at a good-paying job, but 
she is still having trouble meeting the needs of her kids and filling 
up the gas tank.
  I met a family who bought a Jeep, who planned to use it for 
recreation, but now they can barely afford the expense of driving back 
and forth from work.
  One woman told me about her husband, who is an independent owner and 
operator of a diesel truck, who has already spent as much on diesel in 
the first half of 2008 as he had spent all last year.
  So what should Congress do? First, we need to increase the production 
of American energy through more energy exploration and production here 
at home. Congress needs to open up a small sliver of ANWR in Alaska and 
in the Outer Continental Shelf for energy exploration. Congress needs 
to encourage the construction of new refineries and of more nuclear 
power plants. They need to promote efficiency and new sources of 
American renewable energy.
  Each of these would reduce pain at the pump. It's very important to 
understand that gas prices and other types of energy prices are related 
to each other. For example, if we want to start using more plug-in 
hybrids, we're going to have to increase our electricity production to 
charge up these electric cars. That's why it's so important to support 
nuclear, clean coal and alternative energy sources.
  Also, if this Congress will take these steps, it will send an 
immediate signal to speculators and to other investors that we are 
serious about increasing production, and costs will come down in the 
short term as well as in the long term. We saw this when the President 
lifted the executive order banning offshore drilling.
  Congress has waited too long to help provide relief to Arkansans and 
to the rest of the American people. We must act now and pass sensible 
legislation so that residents of the Third District of Arkansas don't 
have to choose between keeping gas in their cars and meeting the needs 
of their families.

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