CHICAGO,
IL – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today repeated her call
on the Bush Administration to give consumers in her district and the Midwest
relief from high gasoline prices at the pump. During a conference
call with members of the press, Schakowsky said that “President Bush can
act to stop price gouging by jawboning his friends in the oil and gas industry,”
and that his plan to drill our way out of the energy crisis will not help
lower prices during this summer’s driving season.
“For
the second year in a row, my constituents are paying some of the highest
prices in the country for gasoline after spending a fortune to heat their
homes with natural gas this winter.
“In
anticipation of a recurrence of gasoline price spikes in my district, we
kept track of gas prices at local stations. On March 30th, the price
for a gallon of regular gasoline just a few blocks from my office was $1.80.
Today, at that same station, the price is $2.25. A $.45 cent per
gallon increase in less than two months. Unfortunately, I have seen
no indication that these prices are going to go anywhere but up in the
near future, and that has me seriously concerned.
“While
big oil is getting bigger, consumers in my district and across the country
are getting gouged. We need some relief now. The Bush Administration
has said that there is nothing that they can do to help consumers in the
short-term, but that the only strategy is long-term. We know that isn’t
true. The President can act to stop price gouging by jawboning his friends
in the oil and gas industry and, if that doesn't work, sending legislation
to Congress to get relief now.
“We
know that big oil has played a role in the price spikes and we know they
are just making business decision to maximize their profits. While
the Federal Trade Commission report that I requested with my colleagues
did not find criminal collusion, it did find that “each industry participant
acted unilaterally and followed individual profit maximization strategies”.
“Robert
Pitofsky, then Chairman of the FTC said, “we did find that three oil companies
cut back production in February, and as a result, there was less gasoline
available last summer than the year before. And we found that one
company had extra gasoline, but held it off the market because they didn’t
want to drive prices down, even though they were extremely high at the
time.” So while these oil and gas companies may not be in the same
room conspiring together, they have certainly figured out on their own
how to gouge consumers. And they are at it again this year.
“Unfortunately,
we have an Administration that is coming at this problem from a much different
perspective. The oil industry helped put President Bush in office.
I don’t think we can expect a President that took almost $2 million in
contributions from oil companies and executives to do anything to cut into
those companies’ profits.
“The
Republican Party received over $25 million from big oil with Enron and
Exxon-Mobil giving the most. And let’s take a look at big oil’s representation
inside the Bush White House-starting with President Bush who we know was
founder and CEO of an oil company in the past. And Vice President Cheney
who left his job as CEO at Haliburton to lead the nation’s energy policy.
Condoleezza Rice was on Chevron’s board; Gale Norton began her career at
a think tank funded by big oil; the Deputy Interior Secretary lobbied for
big oil; Commerce Secretary Don Evans was President and CEO of a Texas
oil company; and the under-Secretary of Commerce, Kathleen Cooper was a
chief economist at Exxon-Mobil. The list goes on but it is clear
that this is an Administration that has a clear bias on this subject.
“That
is why I am renewing my call, which I made to the President before he took
office, to use his close ties to the industry and demand a reduction in
gasoline prices. I am anxious to see the Administration’s plan.
But I am not getting my hopes up that it will include any relief for my
constituents and the prices they are being forced to pay for gasoline.” |