[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15015]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  BRING DOWN PRICES AT THE PUMP TODAY

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, Americans everywhere are fed up with paying 
high gas prices. For 8 days, Americans have been asking President Bush 
to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move that has 
brought down prices at the pump in the past. But the President 
continues to say no.
  In 1990, when the President's father withdrew oil from the reserve, 
the impact on prices was immediate, and they dropped 33 percent in 2 
days. In 2000, President Clinton did the same, and prices fell before 
oil even hit the market. And in 2005, when this President Bush made the 
move, the price of oil dropped again.
  Now the White House claims it won't lower prices but history proves 
that action to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
provides immediate relief to American consumers.
  Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the pain our families are experiencing 
at the pump and in the economy today, there is simply no time to wait. 
Action is needed now, and we call on President Bush to stand up for 
consumers and utilize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

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