[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              DEMOCRATS CONTINUE FIGHT TO LOWER GAS PRICES

  (Mr. ALTMIRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Speaker, with gas prices reaching a new record high 
every day, Congress took strong action last week to bring down the 
price at the pump by passing legislation to suspend filling the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the end of this year.
  After initially opposing the proposal, President Bush signed the bill 
into law yesterday. He had the power all along to stop filling the SPR, 
but it took an act of Congress to push him to take this commonsense 
step, a step that could lower gas prices by up to 24 cents a gallon.
  While the Bush administration has allowed crude oil to rise from $25 
a gallon when he first took office to $130 a gallon today, the 
Democratic Congress is fighting to reduce our dependence on foreign 
oil, bring down record gas prices, and launch a cleaner, smarter energy 
future for America.
  Today this House will consider legislation that will retain and 
create hundreds of thousands of green energy jobs and encourage the use 
of production of renewable energy. While President Bush continues to 
call for more of the same policies that have failed for the past 7 
years, this Democratic Congress is working for an energy independence 
plan for America.

                          ____________________