    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [May 3, 2006]
    [Pages 852-853]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Members of Congress
    May 3, 2006

        I want to thank the Members of the House and the Senate, members of
    both parties, for a really constructive and important dialog. We talked
    about ways to deal with America's energy problem. And we talked about it
    in a very constructive way, and I want to thank the Members for joining
    us.
        We talked about the need to make sure our consumers are treated
    fairly, that there be fairness in the marketplace. And there was common
    consensus that we need to hold people to account if they're not dealing
    squarely with the American consumer.
        We talked about ways to help mitigate demand, and one way to do so
    is to encourage alternative automobiles, like hybrid automobiles. And
    there seemed to be an agreement that we ought to extend the tax credit
    for these kind of automobiles to encourage our consumers to purchase the
    hybrid automobile.
        We talked about ways to--the need to research, to spend money for
    research and development, to change the fuels that we use in
    automobiles. One of the great promising sources of fuel is ethanol, and
    we talked about ways to encourage not only

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    the production of ethanol but the distribution of ethanol.
        We talked about the need to continue research and development into
    new types of batteries so that the American consumer will be able to
    drive the first 40 miles on electricity. We talked about the need to
    increase supply of energy. One of the things that is necessary to help
    relieve price is to increase the amount of gasoline.
        We talked about regulatory relief, to see to it that we can expand
    refining capacity and build new refineries. If the American people want
    there to be a lower price of gasoline, we need more gasoline on the
    marketplace.
        And so we talked about commonsense ideas. And I really do appreciate
    the members from both political parties thinking strongly about how we
    can work together to serve the American consumer and make us less
    dependent on foreign sources of oil. The prices of gasoline should serve
    as a wake-up call to all of us involved in public office that we have
    got an energy security problem and a national security problem, and now
    is the time to deal with it in a forceful way. And I am heartened by the
    fact that we were able to have such a constructive dialog, and that
    there's a commitment to get good legislation out of the Congress.
        Thank you all very much for coming.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:31 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House.