[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 107 (Thursday, June 25, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H4253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1340
                              HAPPY SUMMER

  (Mr. CASTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASTEN. Happy summer. It is time to fire up the grill, fire up 
the air conditioner, and book some road trips, if you can afford to 
fuel them.
  Since Donald Trump's election, gasoline prices have skyrocketed. 
Household energy bills are up by as much as 18 percent. In response to 
this, the President said: ``I don't think about Americans' financial 
situation.''
  That is more than just a psychotic lack of empathy because he also 
said: ``. . . when oil prices go up we make a lot of money.'' Who is 
``we'' in this situation? In the words of Chris Rock: ``It ain't us.'' 
But it is par for the course in a White House that has always put the 
interests of oil and gas producers ahead of consumers.
  So I have got this crazy idea. What if we actually put forth an 
energy policy that unambiguously put consumers first, that always 
prioritized the most reliable, lowest cost sources of energy, even if 
that came at the expense of oil company profits?
  That is exactly what Congressman Levin and I have put forward in our 
Energy Bills Relief Act, which has over 158 cosponsors in the House.
  Your bills are too high. Our bills are too high. It is long past time 
for us to do something about it.

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