[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20416]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                 HUGO CHAVEZ AND THE AMERICAN CONSUMER

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, Hugo Chavez, dictator of Venezuela, gave 
a speech at the United Nations last week in which he lambasted the 
United States and denigrated President Bush. Chavez is little more than 
a comical autocrat on an anti-American public relations tour, but it is 
interesting that the American public has channeled their wrath into 
their consumer purchasing, moving to boycott Citgo, the Venezuelan 
national gas company.
  Indeed, on Wednesday, 7-Eleven reacted to growing bad publicity by 
announcing it would not renew a 20-year contract with Citgo. That is 
about 2,100 gas stations off the books for Citgo. The rest will be 
targets of an angry American public's spontaneous boycott of Venezuelan 
oil.
  All of us are working here in Congress to promote America's oil 
independence. All of us should do what 7-Eleven is doing by boycotting 
Citgo gas stations.

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