[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 99 (Thursday, June 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          INFLATED GAS PRICES

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, in my home State of Rhode Island and all 
across America, people are working harder than ever just to get by. 
Wages are flat and costs continue to rise. In fact, just last month, 
gas prices hit a 3-year high. It is obscene. Working people have been 
getting ripped off at the pump for years.
  One of the biggest reasons is that countries in OPEC and other 
foreign oil cartels work together to inflate the cost of gas. Some 
folks think there is nothing we can do about this.
  That is why, last month, along with Congressman  Steve Chabot, I 
introduced the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, or NOPEC 
Act. This is a commonsense bill that will help bring down the cost of 
gas by making members of OPEC and other foreign oil cartels subject to 
U.S. antitrust laws and preventing them from price gouging. It 
prohibits those same companies from withholding their supply of oil in 
order to raise prices.
  Earlier this week, our bill was approved by the House Judiciary 
Committee. I look forward to this bill coming to the floor and its 
swift passage. It is long past time that we deliver some much-needed 
relief to working people in this country.

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