[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5662-5663]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERFECT STORM COMING

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, it is time for the Bush administration to 
end its campaign of inaction on gasoline price hikes. Tomorrow, OPEC 
will vote on whether there should be additional production cuts, and 
this very morning, the Saudi oil minister said OPEC

[[Page 5663]]

should go ahead with its scheduled production cut in the month of 
April.
  If they do, that is going to take 1 million barrels of oil off the 
market per day, when U.S. private oil supplies are already millions of 
barrels low and when U.S. gasoline prices are at record highs.
  Folks on the west coast of the United States are getting clobbered by 
these gasoline price hikes. People in California pay considerably more 
than $2 a gallon. Folks in my home State of Oregon are close behind, 
paying an average of more than $1.80 in some of our towns.
  There is a perfect storm coming with respect to these gasoline price 
hikes. The combination of the Bush administration filling the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve at the wrong time, the fact we have these refinery 
cutbacks on the west coast that seem as much to boost profit as 
anything else, the Federal Trade Commission turning a blind eye to 
anticompetitive profits, and the shenanigans of OPEC are the factors 
that are coming together to create what I think could be a perfect 
storm with gasoline prices of $3 a gallon.
  On the OPEC issue, less than a month ago the head of the Energy 
Information Agency told me OPEC would make up the difference for the 
oil the U.S. Energy Department is putting in the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve. I have to tell you, Mr. President, if you think OPEC is going 
to be looking out for the American gasoline consumer, you have to think 
Colonel Sanders is looking out for the chickens. It simply does not add 
up.
  For the life of me, I cannot understand the administration's 
insistence on continuing to swipe oil out of the private U.S. market 
and squirrel it away in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a time when 
the American consumer is getting clobbered each week at the gasoline 
station. The Bush administration needs to stop filling the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve. The administration is spending American tax dollars 
to buy oil at record high prices and put it in the reserve, and 
apparently they are saying they will not stop it. But, in fact, they 
did stop filling the reserve when it helped the oil companies. They 
stopped filling the reserve in December 2002 when the oil companies 
needed more supply for refineries.
  It seems to me the message today is what the administration is 
willing to do for the big oil companies they ought to do for the 
American consumer, and particularly the ones I represent on the west 
coast of the United States.
  There is no substitute for leadership when American families are 
hurting financially and getting shellacked by these gasoline price 
hikes. It is interesting to note that when the President was a 
candidate in 2000, he said the President ought to be using his bully 
pulpit to jawbone OPEC. This administration is not doing that.
  Last week, they took credit for oil coming down about $1 a barrel. 
The fact was, that was a day late and $7 a barrel short because the 
price is still way above the OPEC price target level.
  We come to the floor today to say when the American people are 
hurting, there needs to be Presidential leadership. These gas prices 
are hurting my constituents. They are devastating to businesses and to 
consumers on the west coast, and they are driving up prices for goods 
and transportation in this country.
  We have a proposal. It is to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve, No. 1. No. 2, it is for the Federal Trade Commission to get 
off the dime and look at these anticompetitive practices. I have 
introduced legislation, S. 1737. If the Bush administration does not 
like that bill, I would like to hear their proposal. Let's hear what 
they are going to do to stand up for the west coast consumer.
  It seems the administration is busy filling the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve with no regard for rising gas prices. They are busy with their 
campaign of inaction that seems to help nobody but the oil companies 
and will not direct the Federal Trade Commission to take steps now to 
protect the consumer. I think the American people deserve better.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chambliss). Under the previous agreement, 
the Senator from New York is recognized for 7\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I thank the Chair.

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