[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 90 (Thursday, May 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S3863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                BIG OIL

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is a disturbing tale as old as time: 
While Big Oil companies bask in recordbreaking profits, hard-working 
Americans are feeling the pinch of high prices at the pump. Instead of 
working to lower gas prices for Americans ahead of a busy Memorial Day 
weekend, Big Oil executives seem to be huddling to find ways to keep 
gas prices high and keep profits soaring.
  One of those ways included Big Oil executives spending their time 
cozying up to Donald Trump who, as we all know, is no enemy of Big Oil. 
A few weeks ago, the Washington Post released a disturbing account of a 
meeting Donald Trump held with Big Oil executives at Mar-a-Lago, where 
Donald Trump promised Big Oil Executives that he will gut the clean 
energy investments and jobs made possible by the legislation we 
Democrats passed in exchange for $1 billion for his reelection efforts.
  This is sickening. Donald Trump would quite literally be bought by 
the biggest polluters in the world and be totally beholden to the 
fossil fuel agenda and Americans will pay the price at the pump. Donald 
Trump is not even hiding it. Sadly, Big Oil's greediness doesn't stop 
with Donald Trump.
  A recent report showed that big oil companies were also among the 
biggest perpetrators of stock buybacks, using their soaring profits to 
further line the pockets of wealthy executives and shareholders.
  Stock buybacks aren't good for the economy. Stock buybacks aren't 
good for workers. Stock buybacks aren't good for anyone but the wealthy 
oil executives and shareholders. It shows that instead of investing and 
finding new energy--which we would hope they would do it with clean 
energy--they are instead just raising their stock prices.
  There is something deeply wrong with big oil companies continuing to 
rake in the cash at the expense of the American people. So Democrats 
will keep working to shine a spotlight on oil companies' unfair 
practices and hold them accountable.

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