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(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Rep. Mike Ross (AR-04) Thursday sent a letter
to the 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.
“I am requesting that the Federal Trade Commission conduct an immediate
investigation of the status of our nation's oil companies and refineries,
how the devastation of Hurricane Katrina has impacted our domestic oil
industry, and what can be done to ensure that climbing gas prices are not
a result of unfair price gouging,” said Ross. “Price gouging in the
aftermath of what is arguably America’s worst natural disaster in history
is intolerable and must be investigated.”
“As a result of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of evacuees from Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Alabama have fled to Arkansas for safety. I traveled
throughout the rural Fourth Congressional District of Arkansas in the days
immediately following Hurricane Katrina and have witnessed firsthand already
inflated gas prices jump from $2.45 to $2.99 overnight.”
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there has been immeasurable
damage to our nation’s oil production and refining infrastructure in the
Gulf of Mexico, where 42% of our domestic oil is produced per day,” Ross
continued. “However, we must ensure that these skyrocketing gas prices
are not the result of price gouging as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
and our nation struggles to recover from the hurricane.”
Ross is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which
maintains oversight of the Federal Trade Commission. |
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