[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 16, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1711-S1712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         GAS PRICES ON THE RISE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the rising cost of gasoline has 
become a major source of concern for most Americans. With prices in 
most States moving closer and closer to $4 a gallon, and already higher 
in some areas, America has a right to know where the President and 
Democrats in Congress stand on the issue.
  Let me begin this morning with a simple observation that it is no 
accident gas prices are skyrocketing at a time when Democrats control 
two-thirds of official Washington. It is no secret Democratic leaders 
in Washington do not particularly care for this issue. Ask them about 
gas prices and chances are they will tell you about some car they plan 
to build and have ready for production about 25 years down the road. 
Suggest we tap some of our domestic sources of oil and they will give 
you 101 reasons we cannot and how that is not a real solution anyway 
because it will take too long to get it out of the ground.
  We have been having that particular argument for decades now--
literally for decades. Then they have the audacity to step in front of 
the cameras and tell us they are all for reducing our dependence on 
foreign sources of oil. With what--windmills?
  It is time to be serious about a serious problem. The fact is, there 
is no reason in the world we cannot invest in future technologies at 
the same time we are tapping into the resources we already have right 
here at home and creating jobs while we do it. But Democrats do not 
seem to like that idea. They would rather force a change in behavior 
now than giving struggling American families the relief they need from 
the rising gas prices.
  Do not listen to what they say on the issue, watch what they do. Here 
is what they have done.
  Over the past 2 years, the Obama administration has delayed, revoked, 
suspended, or canceled an enormous range of development opportunities.
  One month after the President took office, his administration 
canceled 77 oil and gas leases in Utah. Once the review was complete, 
the administration refused to reinstate even a single one.
  A month after that, the administration shortened lease terms for 
offshore oil and gas production and raised fees for permit 
applications.
  Last January, it announced new restrictions for onshore oil and gas 
exploration in the mountain West.
  Last February, it denied a permit to build a bridge needed to access 
an oil-producing field in Alaska, after the Environmental Protection 
Agency designated a nearby river an aquatic resource of national 
importance.
  Last April, the administration suspended 61 oil and gas leases in 
Montana that were issued in 2008 and then announced that all oil and 
gas leases in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota would be delayed 
indefinitely.
  Last May, the President announced a 6-month moratorium on deepwater 
drilling--a moratorium that has been repeatedly struck down in the 
courts.
  The list of actions such as these go on and on, and that is to say 
nothing of the proposed new Environmental Protection Agency regulations 
on energy that would either cause oil refineries to pass along their 
resulting new production costs to consumers at the pump or drive them 
and their jobs overseas.
  Let there be no doubt, the efforts of the White House are costing 
jobs and putting even more pressure on gas prices. Paying lipservice to 
the public's concerns will not solve the problem. Unlocking our own 
sources of energy at home would help immensely.
  Just to give an idea of the kind of resources we have right here at 
home, consider that just one 2,000-acre section of the nonwilderness 
sections of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, along with the Chukchi 
and Beaufort Seas, have enough recoverable oil to replace crude imports 
from the Persian Gulf for nearly 65 years--65 years.
  The problem is not that we need to look elsewhere for energy. The 
problem

[[Page S1712]]

is that Democrats in Washington will not let us use it. The problem is 
that even with gas prices on the rise, they want to tax it even more.
  Let's make this simple. I am going to propose just two concrete 
practical things we can do in Washington to give the American people 
some relief, create jobs, and help us be less dependent on foreign 
sources of oil, two ideas that would have wide bipartisan support. 
Let's increase American energy production, and let's block any new 
regulations that will drive up the production costs for energy. These 
are two ideas that will create jobs and alleviate the increasing 
pressure on gas prices.
  Let's leave the ideology aside and do some practical good for 
Americans who are struggling out there. Let's increase American 
production of energy with American jobs and stop the job-stifling 
regulations.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam 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.

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