[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      ASK THE LIBERALS WHY WE ARE PAYING HIGHER PRICES AT THE PUMP

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, our constituents are asking exactly the 
right question: Why are gas prices so high?
  Well, I will tell you. There are liberal Members of this body for the 
past three decades that have voted to prevent domestic exploration for 
oil. They have also worked to make it virtually impossible to build new 
refineries, and they have succeeded. We have not built a new refinery 
in this country since 1976.
  This week we have watched the Democrats stand around wringing their 
hands about high gas prices and blaming every Republican in sight. But 
this is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue, and people need 
to know the truth is in the voting.
  Last year we passed the GAS Act with not a single Democratic vote in 
the House. Not one. That bill would have streamlined the overly 
burdensome permitting and regulatory work that goes into getting a 
refinery. It would have made price gouging a Federal crime. The bill 
got no liberal support here in the House. Now it is in the Senate.
  Americans have only to ask the liberals why they are paying so much 
at the pump.

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