[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1029]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GAS PRICES

  (Mrs. DAVIS of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I represent San Diego, 
California, which has the dishonor of being home to the highest gas 
prices in the Nation. The most expensive gas in San Diego was going for 
$4.75 a gallon, and that hurts my constituents.
  My friends on the other side of the aisle believe the solution is 
simple--more production means lower prices. However, our Nation's oil 
production is the highest it has been in years. And yet so are gas 
prices. The conclusion? More drilling does not mean lower prices.
  Independent analysis has pointed to Wall Street speculators as a 
culprit for the rise in gas prices. Mr. Speaker, we've heard this story 
before: Wall Streeters gaming markets to make big bucks at the expense 
of consumers.
  Another culprit? There is nothing truly competing against gasoline. 
Prices will go down when there are alternative fuels and real 
transportation choices to compete with oil.
  There are two things that Congress can do to relieve the pain at the 
pump: an innovative 21st-century approach to our energy problems, and 
we need to tame the speculative markets.

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