Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in advance of President Obama’s Oval Office address on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Lives have already been lost, livelihoods are in danger, and our coastlines face terrible long-term damage,” said Congressman Price. “The people and policies responsible for this tragedy must be held to account, but our focus must first be on stopping this spill and cleaning up the oil as quickly as possible.

“Tonight, we will learn if President Obama is capable of addressing the problem in front of him without reaching for a partisan agenda. We have already heard that Democrats see this tragedy as an opportunity to push an economically disastrous national energy tax. That would be remarkably irresponsible, and the White House should not use this type of environmental catastrophe for political purposes as it used the economic crisis to push through a bloated and ineffective stimulus package last year.

“The direct result of a national energy tax would be higher energy prices that will burden American consumers and diminish America’s global competitiveness. This is no time for a partisan agenda, or even worse, cheap fundraising appeals. Tonight, President Obama needs to finally take charge of this disaster and show some real leadership. Two months is too long to wait.”