WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today spoke on the Senate floor about how rising gas prices are adversely affecting Pennsylvanians. Senator Casey also spoke of his support for the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008 which aims to shed light on undisclosed and unregulated trading of oil that is contributing to higher gas prices. His remarks are below:
Remarks of U.S. Senator Bob Casey
July 22, 2008
Mr. President, I wanted to speak on the legislation that's before us on the question of dealing with energy, in particular the price of gasoline. We've had months now of nonstop talk in Washington about gas prices. Across country, in my home state of Pennsylvania, the presiding officer's home state of Delaware and so many places around the country people are frustrated. They don't feel that Washington has been responsive to the concerns that they have. And it's about time we did a lot less talking and do some acting and some legislating.
And it's for that reason I stand before you to talk about this issue in a broad sense, in particular of the legislation we have a chance to vote on this week or next and certainly no longer than that. I want to commend Senator Reid, the Majority Leader, and Senator Durbin, the Assistant Majority Leader, and others for bringing a number of bills aimed at addressing the high price of gasoline to the floor.
Since we started working on gas price legislation, just two months ago, prices in Pennsylvania have risen 40 cents in two months. From $3.60 to $4. The average Pennsylvania family now is spending $2,792. That’s almost $2,800 more on gasoline than they were just seven years ago, at the beginning of the current administration. On top of that, people in Pennsylvania, who are the second largest users of home heating oil in the whole country, are eyeing the approaching cold weather months and wondering how they will be able to afford to heat all of their homes, especially those who are low income, older citizens, or live in rural areas of Pennsylvania where they have to travel far distances to go to the grocery store, go to work or live their lives.
Just a few weeks ago, I met with home heating oil retailers from Northeastern Pennsylvania, my home area.
Their number one request is to end excessive oil speculation. These retailers are on the frontline of the oil crisis and they see families struggling to pay all of their bills. One of the people I met was Ron Kukuchka. He told me the story of a customer last winter who stood in his store and counted out three piles of cash. The first one was for this woman's home heating oil. The second was for her prescription medication. And the third, was for food. At the end of her counting, she had $30 to pay for next month's rent.
Tammy May, a woman from Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania, was quoted in a local paper last week. And I read her brief statement to Chairman Bernanke about the issue of recession and the economy and this is the reality that Pennsylvania and American families are facing. Tammy May said and I quote -- "the house payment is first, then day care, then we worry about gas, then food." That's the life of Tammy May and that's the life of too many American families.
It is unconscionable. It defies description to even say it. It is unconscionable to allow this to happen to families living in the richest country in the world. Is it any wonder that people across this country are fed up and in some cases angry about no action here in Congress?
So once again people in this chamber, especially on this side of the aisle, are trying to pass a bill. Trying to pass a bill to deal with the high price that American families are paying at the pump. That's why I’m proud to cosponsor the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008. I think it is a proposal with the potential to impact gas prices. It's not a magic wand. It's not a quick fix for gas prices. It has the potential to have a positive impact on this issue.
And here's some testimony to that effect. Last month, the managing director and senior oil analyst of Oppenheimer and Company said, "The surge in crude oil prices, which has more than doubled in the last 12 months, is due to mainly excessive speculation. Not due to an unexpected shift in market fundamentals." The C.E.O. of Marathon Oil said, "$100 oil isn't justified by the physical demand of the market. It has to be speculation on futures market that is fueling this."
So for those who want to make the case that speculation is irrelevant to this debate, I think there's more than ample evidence to suggest that they're wrong. I think there's other evidence to suggest that they're deliberately misleading people. Let's be honest about it.
Unfortunately, the counterproposal in this chamber is to simply drill our way to energy independence. We know that will do nothing to lower gas prices. The Bush Administration's own energy information association has clearly stated that if we open up the entire outer continental shelf, "any impact on average well head prices is expected to be insignificant.”
Aside from the larger issues of world oil prices and limited American oil reserves, there are practical reasons that drilling just won't work. The world's fleet of drill ships, which are used for exploratory drilling of new oil and gas wells, are booked solid for the next five years. Even if we waived every environmental law, oil companies would be unable to start pumping oil for years.
President Bush has acknowledged that increased domestic drilling won't lower gas prices at the pump. It is merely, in his words, "psychological". Well, psychology is not going to solve our energy problem. Neither will gimmicks. Neither will some of the things that have been pushed in this chamber recently.
A series of goals to reduce gasoline consumption through efficiency and alternative fuels is our only help. The only way to achieve those goals is to map out a strategy and then, as the advertising tells us, "just do it."
That, Mr. President, is what the people in Pennsylvania and all of America are expecting and demanding of Congress. Leadership to chart a course that gives us real solutions along with some immediate relief. The bill we're debating will bring some sunlight, not a magic wand, to the futures market so that regulators will have the information they need to rein in excessive speculation and detect price manipulation.
Will this bill solve all of our energy problems? No, it won't. But it has the potential to provide relief to families who are paying to line the purses of the futures market middle men. While implementing a long-term solution to end our reliance on oil and, in particular, end our reliance on foreign oil. I hope that my colleagues will support the bill and I hope that we can work in a collaborative way across the aisle and across the Capitol with the House of Representatives to face the real problem facing American families.
