[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15675]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HOUSE REPUBLICANS PREPARE TO LEAVE TOWN WITHOUT ADDRESSING RECORD GAS 
                                 PRICES

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, gas prices are at a record high, at over $3 
per gallon. Yet House Republicans plan to leave Washington at the end 
of this week for a 5-week recess without providing any relief at the 
gas pump.
  My legislation, the PUMP Act, which would lower the cost of a barrel 
of oil by $20, has been stalled in committee.
  Our constituents have been gouged at the pump for 4 months in a row 
now, and the only response we have heard from the other side of the 
aisle is the same old tired policies that will do nothing to reduce our 
dependence on foreign oil and will do nothing to provide real relief to 
the American consumer.
  There is no excuse for Republican inaction. It is time that they 
break their cozy ties with oil companies so we can finally help the 
American consumer.
  House Democrats want to repeal more than $20 billion in tax breaks 
and subsidies that Congressional Republicans and the Bush White House 
continue to protect. With Big Oil's record profits of $16 billion 
during the first quarter of this year, oil companies don't need more 
tax breaks from Washington. Democrats would invest this money, more 
than $20 billion, into energy resources of tomorrow so that we can 
begin to wean ourselves off foreign oil.
  It is time to go in a new direction, America.

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