[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12172]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 REPUBLICAN LEADERS OPPOSE OUR EFFORTS TO LOWER RECORD HIGH GAS PRICES 
                              AT THE PUMP

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, yesterday gas prices hit an average of 
$4.04 a gallon, a new historic high. While Democrats are taking action 
to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and lower prices, Republicans 
continue to repeat the same old rhetoric, continue drilling in ANWR, 
even though the President's own Energy Department has concluded that 
opening up the Arctic for drilling would not reduce the price of 
gasoline for another 20 years, and then it would only go down by about 
1 penny per gallon. That's not an energy plan to be proud of.
  From day one this Democratic Congress has been fighting to reduce our 
independence on foreign oil, bring down record gas prices and launch a 
cleaner and smarter energy future. We passed bills holding OPEC and oil 
companies accountable for price fixing, investing in renewable energy 
for green jobs and cracking down on price gouging by oil companies.
  The only problem is that we are not getting enough support from 
either House Republicans or from President Bush. How high are prices 
going to actually have to get before Republicans support these 
important bills?

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