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“Be proud to say that we are all Americans." – Lamar Alexander
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Alexander Tells Knoxville Produce Company That Congress Shouldn’t Have Gone Home Without Dealing With $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices
Offshore Drilling, Electric Cars Would Help Bring Costs Down |
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August 5th, 2008 - Knoxville, Tenn. - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said in Knoxville today that he voted against the Senate adjourning without addressing $4 per gallon gasoline.
“I voted against adjournment because the Senate should never have gone home without dealing with $4 per gallon gasoline prices. The American people expect Congress to take action, not take a vacation. I voted consistently for two weeks to get the Senate to deal with this problem and keep other legislation off the floor. The sooner we authorize offshore oil drilling and make it easier for Americans to drive plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles the sooner we’ll stop sending billions a year overseas to hostile countries, and that will help us get gas prices down.”
Alexander shared his proposals for dealing with high gas prices with Nancy and Len McMahan at their Knoxville-based Son Shine Produce Company business, a family-owned and operated fresh produce distribution service. Despite their rising costs, Nancy and Len McMahan have decided against adding a fuel surcharge to their prices, instead cutting routes and planning ahead to cut costs.
Mr. McMahan told Senator Alexander, “We’ve had to combine routes and cut back substantially to compensate for paying over $20,000 per month for diesel, nearly twice as much as we used to pay. With farmers, freight haulers and distributors all raising their prices with diesel so high, the cost of buying potatoes alone has doubled and it’s getting funneled right down to the consumers. It doesn’t matter if you eat out or buy groceries and cook at home, you’re paying more for food.”
Alexander noted that “Len and Nancy, like so many Tennesseans, have been hit hard by the rising cost of fuel, and they’re trying their hardest not to let those higher prices transfer down to their customers. With the high cost of diesel fuel forcing farmers, freight haulers and distributors to all raise their prices, families are hit with a triple whammy when they go to buy food at the grocery store or anywhere else.”
Alexander has joined other senators to introduce the Gas Price Reduction Act (S. 3202) which would support energy production like offshore drilling and nuclear power while promoting less reliance on foreign oil though the development of plug-in vehicles. Specifically, the bill would:
• “Find More” – increasing American oil production by one-third through offshore exploration and western states oil shale (3 million new barrels a day).
• “Use Less” – reducing imported oil by one-third by making it easier for millions of Americans to drive plug-in electric cars and trucks (4 million barrels of oil savings a day). The bill also encourages the government to increase its purchases of electric vehicles.
Alexander also said that the bipartisan proposal unveiled last week by the “Gang of 10” was another step in the right direction: "These are the right ideas: plug-in cars and trucks, conservation and producing more American energy,” Alexander said. “The Senate should take up these bipartisan recommendations as soon as we reconvene in September, improve them and make them law. Senator Corker has rendered a real service by his participation in this working group."
Son Shine Produce has been owned by Nancy and Len for over 40 years, operating over 30 trucks to deliver fresh produce to area restaurants, grocery stores, hospitals, nursing homes and schools. But according to Len, the cost of produce, like potatoes, has never been as expensive as it is now. Alexander said that he would continue taking stories from Tennesseans like Nancy and Len to Washington as a wake-up call to Congress on just how serious the high gas prices problem is for the American people.
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| August 2008 Press Releases: |
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August 20, 2008 -
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Alexander Honors the Courage of Governor Frank G. Clement
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August 19, 2008 -
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Alexander, Gordon, Wamp Kick-Off National Science and Technology Summit At Oak Ridge
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August 16, 2008 -
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Alexander Honors Memphis Lawyers Practicing Law in the “Grand Manner”
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August 15, 2008 -
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Alexander Says Tom Anderson Will Be a Fair-Minded, Experienced Federal Judge for West Tennessee
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August 13, 2008 -
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Alexander Discusses the Conflict in Georgia
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August 12, 2008 -
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Alexander Predicts 10 Percent of Rutherford County Commuters Will Be Driving Electric Cars and Trucks in 5 Years
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August 12, 2008 -
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Bipartisan Group of Senators Urge Electric Companies to Continue Clean Air Programs
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August 11, 2008 -
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Alexander Tells Jackson Trucking Company He Voted Against Congress Going Home Without Dealing With $4 Gas Prices
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August 8, 2008 -
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Alexander Says We Must Find Best Way to Address High Gas and Energy Costs
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August 7, 2008 -
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Alexander, Corker Recognize Tennessee Olympians
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August 6, 2008 -
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Alexander on NBC Nashville
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August 6, 2008 -
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Alexander Tells Nashville Food Bank He Voted Against Congress Going Home Without Dealing With $4 Gas Prices
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August 5, 2008 -
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current Press Release
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August 5, 2008 -
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Senator Alexander on NBC Knoxville
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August 1, 2008 -
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Alexander Cosponsors Bill to Ensure Americans Have a Safe Food Supply
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August 1, 2008 -
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Alexander Says Senate Should Take Up “Gang of 10” Proposals, Improve Them, and Make Them Law
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 Radio Clip |  Television Clip
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