[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
               BRING DOWN GAS PRICES BY INCREASING SUPPLY

  (Mr. McHENRY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, one day we will end our dependence on 
foreign oil and empower our economy with alternative sources of energy. 
But until that day comes, we have to do everything in our power to 
strengthen our economy by making energy more affordable by increasing 
domestic American production. Roughly 70 percent of what we pay at the 
pumps comes from the price of oil in the global market, which is driven 
by relationships between supply and demand.
  To lower gas prices, we have to use American energy resources. Right 
now, the U.S. produces 41 percent of the petroleum we use. We can do 
much better than that. Just by opening up a small portion of Alaska for 
oil production, we can recover 15 years of Saudi Arabian crude oil. By 
streamlining rules for energy exploration off the Outer Continental 
Shelf, we can access roughly 115 billion barrels of oil, enough oil to 
power 60 million cars for 60 years.
  With gas prices over $4 a gallon, this Congress must act. We have to 
increase supply. Doing anything else would be irresponsible.

                          ____________________