[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 49 (Monday, March 26, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            HIGH GAS PRICES

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, everywhere I go, Americans 
are feeling the pinch of high gas prices. In response, the President 
has begun to claim he supports the Republicans' all-of-the-above energy 
policy. Although the words sound inclusive, a glance at the record 
suggests that President Obama really means none of the below.
  The policy is none of the below on Federal lands. On average, the 
Bush and Clinton administrations leased more than 3 million acres for 
oil and gas development per year. The Obama administration has leased 
less than 2 million acres per year. On Federal lands, oil and gas 
production was down in the last year. There are now fewer offshore 
production facilities in Federal waters than have been for more than 50 
years.
  Do the President's policies matter for gas prices? The Washington 
Post argues that global oil prices are being driven up by a decline in 
global supply relative to the demand of about a million barrels of oil 
a day. That's a lot of oil. But let's keep that in perspective. It's 
less oil than the Keystone XL pipeline President Obama blocked could 
carry each day to U.S. refineries.

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