[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6130]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          REPUBLICANS REFUSE TO HELP CONSUMERS WITH GAS PRICES

  (Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, yesterday the Republican-controlled House 
returned from a second spring break recess. Today is the 116th day of 
2006. Remember, you set the House schedule.
  Would you believe, Madam Speaker, that this is only the 22nd day we 
have had votes here in the House this year? That is 22 days out of a 
total of 116. We indeed are a do-nothing Congress.
  House Republicans simply have not focused on the concerns of average 
Americans. Today, Americans face record prices at the gas pump. In some 
areas, gas prices are hovering around $4 a gallon. Since President Bush 
took office in 2001, gas prices have doubled, and yet for 5 years now, 
House Republicans have done absolutely nothing to address the problem. 
They passed an energy bill last year, but the Bush administration's own 
Energy Department admitted that it would not do anything to reduce gas 
prices.
  Madam Speaker, it is time for House Republicans to stop sending us 
home for breaks. The American people were rightfully demanding a 
solution to the energy crisis. It is time for the do-nothing Congress 
to do something.

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