[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 7232-7233]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           RISING FUEL PRICES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my disappointment that 
the administration has done nothing to rein in rising fuel prices.
  The past 7 years have brought hardship to anyone in Maine with a 
vehicle to fill up at the gas station, a furnace to feed, or a 
livelihood dependent on affordable fuel.
  As you can see in this chart, in January 2001 oil traded at $23 to 
$25 per barrel. This week, it topped $120 per barrel.
  In January 2001, #2 heating oil cost Maine families and businesses 
$1.55 a gallon. This week, it topped $3.85.
  In January 2001, regular unleaded gasoline cost Maine drivers $1.55 a 
gallon. According to the AAA, the going price in Portland this week is 
$3.55 a gallon, and rising.
  In January 2001, diesel for their rigs cost Maine's independent 
truckers $1.53 per gallon. In Bangor this week, it was $4.33 per 
gallon.
  These past 7 years, the oil companies have padded their bottom lines 
at the expense of the hardworking people of Maine and across the 
country. For the past 7 years, everyone in Maine has paid a steep price 
for the Bush administration's disastrous energy policy and for Big 
Oil's efforts in Congress to block legislation to stop energy 
profiteering.
  What has the administration done? Nothing. And they will do nothing 
unless the people's elected representatives push them to action.
  That is why I have called upon the Federal Trade Commission, the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, the Attorney General of the U.S., and the Secretary of 
Energy to launch an immediate investigation of price fixing, 
manipulation, rampant speculation, and other unscrupulous behavior in 
the petroleum markets. Inappropriate and criminal behavior by oil 
companies, their subsidiaries, agents, or employees must be prosecuted 
and punished to the full extent of the law.
  These outrageous price increases are a cruel blow for Maine families 
whose incomes are stagnant or shrinking, and whose costs for health 
insurance, college tuition, and other everyday expenses continue to 
rise faster than inflation. Fuel prices are an economic catastrophe for 
Maine farmers, fishermen, and other small business people. For some of 
Maine's independent truckers, like those I met on the road

[[Page 7233]]

in Kennebunk when they were coming down here, unbridled fuel costs when 
coupled with a stagnating economy may very well put them out of 
business.
  As independent truckers are staring down unemployment, oil companies 
are reaping record profits. However, for one sector of the economy, the 
last 7 years have been a bonanza.
  In 2001, the Big 5 Oil companies posted combined profits of just over 
$40 billion. In 2007, their combined profits topped $123 billion. 
ExxonMobil's $41 billion profit last year was more than all of the Big 
5 combined in 2001, and smashed the record for the highest annual 
profit in history for a U.S. company.
  To put that number in perspective, ExxonMobil's profits last year 
were more than we spent on road construction; they were greater than 
the amount the VA will spend on health care for our veterans this year. 
ExxonMobil's profits were larger than the entire budget for the 
Homeland Security Department in fiscal year 2008. That is profits, not 
revenues, and those profits come directly from the pockets of our 
constituents who pay the oil companies' exorbitant prices.
  In the House, we passed the Federal Price Gouging Act to give the 
Federal Trade Commission explicit authority to investigate and punish 
those who artificially inflate the price of energy, especially those 
who profit most, those at the top of the chain. The bill has passed the 
House, but it has stalled in the other body.
  It is also time to go after the energy speculators who drive up 
energy prices through off-market trading. Those trading practices are 
unseen and unregulated, but they do great damage. I support the Close 
the Enron Loophole Act, and the Preventing the Unfair Manipulation of 
Prices Act legislation to hold oil speculators accountable to the same 
rules that already govern traders who are trading on regulated markets.
  It is time now to roll back the $14 billion in tax breaks and 
incentives that we gave to Big Oil in the 2005 energy bill. It was a 
disgrace then, and it is an outrage now. I voted against these tax 
incentives, tax breaks in 2005, and I am pleased that the House under 
new leadership has already voted to role them back. But in the other 
body, Big Oil's friends have maneuvered to block a vote on the rollback 
bill.
  Finally, we need to provide targeted relief to the small businesses 
that depend on fuel, whether they are heating buildings or driving 
trucks. We need more leadership in the House and over in the other body 
and with the administration.

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