|
(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Rep. Mike Ross (AR-04) Wednesday delivered
opening remarks in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Full Committee
Hearing entitled, “Recovering from Katrina,” to probe the impact of Hurricane
Katrina on U.S. oil production and refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico
as well as the devastating damages to the communications systems in the
Gulf Coast States. Below is the text of Ross’s remarks.
“Yes, Sir, Mr. Chairman. In fact, I just, I left a conference
call which I will soon be joining again with our Governor of Arkansas.
Our Governor is housing about 60,000 of our neighbors from Mississippi
and Louisiana. As you can imagine, we have a lot of challenges that
we want to meet and we want to be there for them and lend a helping hand.
“I have grave concerns about the response time in the aftermath of this
hurricane and subsequent flooding and levee failures as it relates to FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management Agency). I believe that we need to
make FEMA a cabinet-level position and remove it from Homeland Security.
We have some short and long-term needs that are going to have to be met
for the people of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. I believe
that we must have a bipartisan commission, much like the 9/11 Commission,
to figure out what went wrong and how to avoid this from happening in the
future.
“But there are times for those things. Right now is the time,
I believe, to try and restore order in New Orleans, to help the people
of these three states get their lives back together, and obviously the
challenge of recovering the bodies that remain in the devastation of this
hurricane.
“Today, this hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee is quite
frankly about dealing with the aftermath of Katrina as it relates to energy
and gasoline supply and prices.
“So, let me say this. Over the August district work period, I
traveled the Fourth District, in fact, about 8,000 miles worth of traveling
in my district listening to the concern of my constituents about rising
gas and diesel prices. I heard this before the hurricane; obviously it
was compounded by the hurricane. I witnessed first hand already inflated
gas prices jump from $2.45 a gallon to $3.25 a gallon in communities throughout
Arkansas. These are the very towns and communities that our neighbors from
Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama have traveled to seeking shelter.
“Many citizens in my rural Congressional District commute over 100 miles
round trip for work each day. Many farmers in my district face hardships
in operating the necessary equipment especially in this drought to harvest
their crops due to high diesel prices. These citizens as well as
those impacted by the hurricane in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama
simply cannot afford these drastic increases in fuel prices. We need
to ensure the people in this country that oil market manipulation and price
gouging are not occurring and that the Federal Trade Commission’s ongoing
investigations do find manipulations. We need to move swiftly and effectively
to punish those taking advantages of this situation.
“Oil production platforms, import terminals, pipelines, and refineries
were all affected as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The full impact
that Hurricane Katrina will have on oil markets will depend on how quickly
these facilities will be able to recover to pre-hurricane status.
“Mr. Chairman, finally, let me just encourage this committee to work
to do all it can in a bipartisan way to bring down the high cost of gasoline,
to maintain an adequate supply while also meeting the needs and challenges
of the people that have been directly impacted by this horrible natural
disaster. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.”
Today’s remarks are a part of Ross’s continuing efforts to respond to
the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Wednesday,
Ross co-sponsored legislation to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland
Security. The legislation mandates that the Director of FEMA be a
cabinet-level official, report directly to the President, and establishes
two Deputy Directors within FEMA, one to focus on natural disasters and
one for terrorism related disasters. Last Thursday, Ross sent a letter
to Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras requesting
that an immediate investigation of inflated gas prices be conducted to
determine if climbing gas prices are the result of unfair price gouging.
|
|