Energy & Commerce Committee Will Address High Gas Prices Chairman Barton Calls for More Domestic Exploration, Greater Refining Capacity WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, made the following statement today on high gasoline prices: “Last summer we passed the most comprehensive energy bill in decades, and we did it on a bipartisan basis. I said on the floor at that time that for mobile energy sources, it was only a modest bill because we didn’t do many of the things in that bill that we could have done years ago. We didn’t open up ANWR. We didn’t open up the Outer Continental Shelf. We basically did nothing on the supply side for domestic energy, in terms of oil and natural gas. Sadly, it’s biting us in the rear now as gasoline prices in some parts of the nation have gone over $3 a gallon.  “Chairman Pombo of the Resources Committee is working to bring a package of supply-side incentives to the floor very soon. And we are going to see if there’s something that we can do at the Energy and Commerce Committee to help the supply situation, too. We’re going to look at the distribution chain. We need about five million barrels of refinery capacity in this country a day that we don’t have. We passed a refinery bill that’s been languishing in the Senate since last October. We’re going to take another look at ways to increase refinery capacity in this country, including perhaps having the government build one. That may be something that we can take a look at. “Nobody’s happy with gasoline prices being where they are. I filled up my car in Texas last week and it cost me $50 for 17 gallons of gasoline. I am dedicated as a congressman and also as a consumer to doing everything possible to help our price situation at the pump.” ####