[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  A BILL FOR LONG-TERM ENERGY SECURITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 7, 2004

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a bill that 
would provide long-term energy security and greater consumer protection 
to the American people.
  The legislation would permit the Secretary of Energy to use any 
supplies in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in excess of 700 million 
barrels to address sustained price increases in gasoline or oil that 
could have an adverse impact on the Nation's economy. Currently, the 
President may authorize a release of supplies from the SPR to provide 
economic relief from petroleum price increases, though such an act 
would need to be in response to a sustained reduction in supply. This 
legislation would expand that authority for cases when price increases 
were not attributable to a shortage, such as international volatility, 
a major shift in demand, or a decline in refining capacity.
  The consistently high prices our Nation is paying for petroleum--
today, oil reached $53 per barrel--threaten to damage our economy and 
stifle growth. Furthermore, they remind us of how reliant our Nation is 
on foreign sources of oil. With volatility in Iraq and elsewhere, major 
hurricane damage to energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, rising 
demand in nations such as India and China, and OPEC's apparent 
inability or unwillingness to reduce world oil prices, the United 
States has reached a point where we have little influence over a major 
factor affecting our economic well-being. It is therefore imperative 
that we increase the size of the SPR both to protect our Nation in a 
time of strife as well as to insulate our economy from problems in the 
petroleum market.
  I have no illusions that this legislation will solve our Nation's 
energy crisis. In fact, the new release authority would not even enter 
into effect until the SPR surpassed 700 million barrels, which will not 
occur until next year at the earliest. We must adopt this new long-term 
goal as part of a larger effort to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, 
pursuing a comprehensive energy policy that encourages alternative fuel 
sources and energy efficiency. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues to see this measure enacted into law.

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