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here for a copy of Senator Wyden's letter to the President regarding
high oil prices
New Report Ties Gasoline Prices to Crude Oil Spikes;
Wyden Calls on White House to Pressure OPEC Before Upcoming Meeting
March 7, 2005
Unofficial transcript of Senator Wyden's remarks on the Senate
floor this afternoon. Please forgive irregular formatting.
Mr. Wyden: Mr. President, with crude oil prices at almost $54 a
barrel and OPEC meeting in nine days, I have come to the floor this
afternoon to urge the administration to pursue what they promised,
and that is to stand up for our consumers who are facing high oil
and gasoline prices. The news just this last weekend was not good
on the pricing front as it relates to the American consumer. The
Lundberg survey of American gasoline prices came out Monday and
confirmed what a lot of Americans suspected. The price of gas is
rising high, and it is rising fast. According to the survey that
came out Sunday, the price of gasoline has risen nearly seven cents
per gallon in the last two weeks across the board for all grades.
And the Lundberg survey says this is just the beginning, that higher
prices are on the way. Now last week, Mr. President and colleagues,
I asked the u.s. secretary of energy, Mr. Bodman, whether he was
going to do what the administration promised, and that is to stand
up for the consumer and try to push OPEC as hard as possible to
get some pricing relief when they meet in a few days. Mr. Bodman
said in response to my questions, that he hadn't made that call.
And, well, he had a whole lot on his plate. I don't think that's
good enough, Mr. President and colleagues. I think that we've got
to ask this administration and the president specifically about
using their political capital now to stand up for the American consumer
who is getting clobbered by these gasoline and oil prices. If they're
not going to use it now, when are they going to use it? Why not
use it on behalf of American consumers when there is such a demonstrable
cause and effect between the price of crude oil rising and the price
of gasoline rising?
Over the weekend, the secretary of the treasury, secretary snow
said that rising energy prices have the potential to stifle economic
growth in the near future. Maybe secretary snow is willing to get
on the phone with OPEC if secretary Bodman won't. But I know somebody
ought to be doing it, and that's exactly what the president of the
united states promised in 2000. He said that if the country elected
him, he'd push OPEC very hard to try to turn on the spigot and get
some pricing relief.
OPEC is making all the usual noises that they’re concerned
about the rising prices and they think the market has plenty of
oil. As I’ve said before, OPEC is going to look out for OPEC.
The question is whether this administration is going to stand up
for the American consumer as they promised in 2000.
If the secretary isn’t going to pick up the phone and do
that, I think the American people deserve a better answer than to
just say, well, gosh, I’ve got a whole lot on my plate. If
your average American didn't send their tax return in on April 15,
saying, gosh, I’ve got a lot on my plate, I don't think that
would be acceptable, not to this administration, not to me, not
to anybody. So the excuse doesn't wash when it comes to the energy
department's duty to go to bat against high oil prices either.
We need here at home on a bipartisan basis and as it relates to
OPEC abroad, to stand up for our consumers who are getting faced
with escalating energy price that is seem to go up by the day. I
don't think it's right to let OPEC run roughshod over the American
consumer, and we make no comment other than to say, gosh, we've
got a lot on our plate. Nine days from now OPEC is going to meet.
Time is ticking away. But there is still time, Mr. President, for
the administration to deliver on what they promised to the American
people. That's to protect our consumers from high oil and gasoline
prices. I urge that they take just that action. And if Mr. Bodman
won't do it, as he indicated last Thursday, maybe somebody else
in the bush administration will. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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