[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9926]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      MR. PRESIDENT, DON'T PLAY POLITICS: SUPPORT AMERICAN ENERGY

  (Mr. HULTGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HULTGREN. The cost of gasoline is devastating American family 
budgets, destroying jobs, and debilitating our economy. Gas prices in 
my home State of Illinois are among the highest in the Nation.
  It's clear that America needs an energy policy that will take 
advantage of America's vast supplies of oil, gas, and other resources. 
But instead of choosing to boost domestic energy production, which 
would create jobs and help get our economy moving again, the President 
has chosen the shortsighted, politically expedient, and financially 
expensive route of tapping our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I urge him 
to reconsider his decision and embrace the legislation we have passed 
to increase domestic energy production.
  I have been proud to support the bills we've passed because they will 
not only reduce our reliance on unstable and unfriendly regions of the 
world, they will also create good-paying jobs here at home. So instead 
of tapping the SPR to help his reelection campaign, the President 
should do what is truly best for America and support our efforts to 
increase domestic energy production and create the jobs hardworking 
Americans are looking for.

                          ____________________