U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) said price gouging is rampant and the government lacks the ability to investigate or prevent such market abuses.

While some consumers might have breathed a sigh of relief at the Department of Energy's creation of a toll-free hotline to take complaints from victims of gas pump price-gouging, few realize that there exists no federal law against charging exorbitant fuel prices.

The Energy Department's Web site assures motorists their complaints will be forwarded to the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and state attorneys general. But it fails to mention that federal regulators have no authority to take action against price gougers.

"You can call 1-800-244-3301, but a better number for this hotline would be 1-800-BIG-WASTE-OF-TIME," Rahall said. "The administration is trying to placate us and they should be ashamed. It's going to take a lot more than a fancy pacifier wrapped in a bundle of red tape to silence our cries."

Rahall is supporting a proposed bill giving the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice authority to prosecute oil companies engaged in price gouging involving gasoline, home heating oil, or natural gas. The bill will also empower the federal government to impose tough civil and criminal penalties on companies that have cheated consumers.

"Oil companies and refineries are enjoying record profits totaling tens of billions of dollars while American consumers are losing their shirts," Rahall said. "We need to set some national priorities straight."

But Rahall was quick to note that price-gouging legislation is only a peripheral solution.

"We're nibbling at the edges here, but we still need a plan that bites at the core of this crisis, which is now in its 25th week," Rahall said.

Americans are now paying $2.79 a gallon on average for regular gasoline-up 18 cents since Hurricane Katrina. Experts predict that gas prices are likely to remain high throughout the end of the year.

High prices at the pump are delivering a particularly heavy blow to West Virginians, because the state's rural residents often must drive long distances every day to get to work and drop their kids off to school.

"Americans should not have to wonder if they can afford groceries after paying to fill up their gas tanks," Rahall said.

Rahall has proposed many different options for alleviating the pressure of high gas prices on the people of southern West Virginia. He is a proponent of alternative fuels to gasoline, especially coal-based fuels including liquid or gaseous coal-based fuels. Rahall has also urged the Administration to conduct an investigation into the possibility of price fixing by the Big Oil companies.