FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 24, 2005

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi: ‘Stop Filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve While Gas Prices Are so High’

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this evening in favor of the Stupak/Bishop/Sanders amendment to the FY06 Energy and Water Appropriations Act.  The amendment would stop the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  Below are Pelosi’s remarks:

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Stupak/Bishop/Sanders amendment, which, as the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Stupak, has explained, would immediately stop the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while gas prices are so high.

“All over the country people are crying out for relief at the rising price at the pump. Small businesses and families are feeling the pinch, and the consequences are substantial.  Under current estimates, a family of four will spend $423 more on gasoline this year than last year and almost $800 more than two years ago.  

“Consumers have paid the price for rising prices over the last year.  Gas prices have remained at record levels for the past two months at more than $2.13 per gallon nationwide, with my own state of California paying more than $2.48 a gallon. 

“This means that gas prices have risen 35 cents per gallon since the beginning of the year.   The Department of Energy predicts that gas prices could average more than $2.25 nationwide this summer.  The Department of Energy also has said that the energy bill, passed by this House a few weeks ago, would increase the price at the pump.

“Imagine that.  We are legislating on the floor of Congress measures that would increase the price at the pump instead of giving consumers the relief that they need.  Mr. Stupak, Mr. Bishop, and Mr. Sanders have a better idea.   This idea, as Mr. Stupak, explained, would stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve so more oil is in the market, supply increases, and then the price should go down.   This is what happened when it was done before.

“When President Clinton was President, they released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2000, and gas prices were reduced by 14 cents a gallon, $6 a barrel.   When President Bush released Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil in 1991, the price of oil per barrel dropped $10.

“There was bipartisan support for this in the House and Senate in 2004, with bipartisan initiatives urging the President to suspend oil deliveries in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  This has worked for us before, whether it was releasing oil from the reserve or stopping oil from coming into the reserve.

“It is no wonder that gas prices are the top concern of the American people, and record gas prices are starting to have a ripple effect in the economy.   The airline and trucking industries are feeling the pinch.

“For five years, Republicans in Congress have pursued an energy policy to give away billions of dollars in subsidies to special interests that are already profiting from record-high gas prices.  They have turned Washington into an oil and gas town when this is supposed to be the city of innovation, of fresh new thinking and ideas about our energy policy, and the impact it has on the pocketbooks of the American people, on the environment, and on the air we breathe.

“The President's own Department of Energy found the provisions in the energy bill actually increased the price of gasoline three cents, and our dependence on foreign oil is projected to increase 85 percent under the proposed policies of President Bush.

“During consideration of the energy bill last month, Democrats offered an amendment by Mr. Bishop that called on the President to immediately urge OPEC to increase oil production and also to stop the filling of the reserve.  It would have taken steps to protect the American people from price gouging, unfair practices at the gasoline pump, and increased public information on prices.  Unfortunately, the amendment failed.

“How did that amendment fail when it was in the interest of America's consumers?  Well, if the public interest is not served and the special interest is, then it would follow that the consumer is not served.  But we have another chance today.

“I urge my colleagues to support the Stupak/Bishop/Sanders amendment to immediately stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while gas prices are so high.  Give the American consumer a break; vote for this important amendment.”

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi