[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 33 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S1174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 ENERGY

  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, I thank the Chair for the recognition. I 
wish to talk about something that is on everyone's mind. When I was in 
Arkansas last week for the recess, I did four or five townhall meetings 
and pretty much everywhere I went, this was the topic of discussion; 
that is, gas prices in our State.
  I know it hurts every American when gas prices go up because gasoline 
prices and diesel prices have a way of working their way through the 
entire economy and causing economic difficulties for this country. One 
of the things people pointed out to me is this roller coaster effect we 
have seen on gas prices over the last year or so. One thing my friends 
in Arkansas noticed is that the price there has gone up about 30 cents 
a gallon just in the last couple months. So it has been a very dramatic 
increase and it is something people are very concerned about.
  I wish to make three points about this. One is that I think the 
Congress--House and Senate--as well as the White House should look at 
this problem of speculation. When we look at the numbers, some are 
saying a fairly large percentage of the costs of a gallon of gas--some 
people say 20 cents a gallon and some people say 40 cents a gallon--
actually goes to the speculators. So what that means is a lot of these 
guys have no intention of ever taking the product and doing anything 
with it, other than just trading it, to try to profiteer in a volatile 
market. That is a big concern.
  We actually passed something 2 or 3 years ago to get the CFTC to 
issue some regulations on how to handle this, and now those apparently 
have been challenged in court. Of course, the people challenging this 
are the people who are benefiting from the speculation. So I think we 
need to find that balance.
  When we have a market, there are going to be speculators in the 
market and they are going to get out there and try to make some money 
in the marketplace. That is the nature of the business. Sometimes they 
win; sometimes they lose. That is legitimate. But I think there are 
people and companies, some invest billions and billions of dollars, but 
they are trying to profiteer off the volatile oil situation. So we need 
to focus on speculation.
  We also need to focus on the supply of oil in this country. The good 
news is we are seeing more and more acreage being drilled and permitted 
to be drilled in this country. After the terrible gulf spill a couple 
years ago, those permits are starting to be issued again down in the 
Gulf of Mexico, as I understand it. Also, I am a supporter of the 
Keystone Pipeline as well. We need to continue to develop our domestic 
supply, and even our near domestic supply in Canada, of oil. We also 
need to have diversity in our energy portfolio. There needs to be 
alternatives to gasoline and diesel. We need to find different ways to 
run our vehicles, whether it is natural gas or whatever it may be. It 
could be electricity. It could be lots of different products. We need 
to continue to innovate in this country and try to do great things.
  That brings me to my third point, which is the real reason why I am 
on the floor. Certainly, it touches on gas prices, and that is very 
important. We don't want to see gas prices slow down our economic 
recovery we are undergoing right now.
  We also need a more comprehensive and smarter national energy policy. 
I think an important first step toward that is for us to evaluate all 
the energy programs we happen to have on the books already--what the 
Department of Energy is doing, what other various departments are 
doing. Someone needs to be looking at all the tax credits and tax 
incentives when it comes to energy. We need a comprehensive analysis of 
where we are as a nation: what our strengths are, what our weaknesses 
are.
  What I am proposing is a bill, the Quadrennial Energy Review. It is a 
bill we have introduced, and I am fortunate enough to have Senator 
Bingaman, the chairman of the Energy Committee, as well as Senator 
Murkowski, the ranking member of the Energy Committee, as cosponsors. 
We would love to have other Senators look at this, maybe relatively 
soon, because we would like to start moving this through the process, 
if at all possible.

  A quadrennial energy review is based on what they do at the 
Department of Defense. Every 4 years, the DOD goes through this very 
detailed, top-to-bottom analysis of all the things they need to 
consider in the Department of Defense, and they come out with the QDR--
the Quadrennial Defense Review. Basically, it looks at what we have and 
it presents a roadmap for where we need to go.
  That is what we need to do with energy. We already have this model 
that works. This idea would be more governmentwide--not just the 
Department of Energy but governmentwide. I encourage all my colleagues 
to look at this and if they wouldn't mind having their staff check back 
with my office because we would love to have other colleagues as 
cosponsors if they are interested. I don't think it is controversial. I 
don't think there is much money or much requirement involved. I think 
it is good government and smart government to come up with a 
comprehensive energy policy for our Nation.
  In Washington we hear the American people loudly and clearly. We are 
concerned about gas prices as well on lots of different levels and we 
will certainly be focused on that and paying a lot of attention to that 
issue over the next several weeks and, hopefully, we can do some good 
for the market and do some good for the American people.
  With that, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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