High Gasoline Prices

HIGH GASOLINE PRICES

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I rise to speak about an issue that is directly impacting each and every family, not just in West Virginia but throughout this whole country. It is the high gas prices. The truth is, in States all across this Nation, and particularly in West Virginia, countless families have to drive to survive. For these families, a jump in the gas price is not just an inconvenience or an annoyance, it is a threat that hits extremely hard in the pocketbook and could change their way of life.

But as every American knows, the cycle of high gas prices is not a new phenomenon with any of us. I still vividly remember waiting in line for gas in the early 1970s, when gas was rationed based on our license number--when we could buy gas. It is something I thought could never happen in America, and I am sure those whom it happened to felt the same.

This all came about because of our dependency on foreign oil. If we think back to the early 1970s, we were 28 percent dependent on foreign oil, which we thought was a high number at that time. But today we are more than 50 percent dependent on foreign oil, which has caused a massive transfer of American wealth to countries that do not like us that much and want to do us harm. We have seen this bad movie time and again. Yet somehow it seems Washington keeps thinking there is going to be a different outcome or a different ending. The right ending will only come when our Nation makes it a high priority to achieve energy independence within this generation.

While crafting such a bold plan will be difficult, I recognize--and the special interests that oppose using our own resources such as coal, natural gas, and oil in an environmentally responsible way will resist loudly--we can no longer allow this Nation and our hard-working families to be held hostage by high gas prices. We can no longer allow partisanship and politics to undermine the common ground that can be achieved if we work together with one goal in mind--true energy independence within this generation.

Let me make it perfectly clear, high gas prices are not the only high price we are paying as a nation. For decades, our great men and women who serve us so well have been called to action in defense of our vital interests in the Middle East and all around the world. Thousands have been killed and injured. Their families have suffered the incredible pain of loss. Our nations have spent trillions in the course of these missions. Yet too many of these oil-rich countries have and will continue to use against us our dependence on their oil.

For all these reasons and for the sake of our national security, it is time for our Nation to become truly energy independent within this generation. I believe we can do it, and I know we can because just this week in beautiful Mingo County, WV, my State took a major step to confront our gas prices head on. On Monday, West Virginia said enough is enough. On a sunny morning in the town of Gilbert, WV, I helped break ground on a promising new project that could help bring down the crushing gas prices our families are confronting. There, entrepreneurs and State and local governments are participating to create hundreds of jobs at a coal-to-gasoline plant that is at the forefront of any technology in the world.

The anticipated production of this plant is very impressive. It is projected to convert 7,500 tons of West Virginia coal into 756,000 gallons of premium gasoline each and every day, which can be used to run our cars and our trucks and even some of our military equipment.

Over a 4-year construction period, it is estimated that 3,000 skilled trade workers in America will be employed. When the plant is finished, it is expected to create 300 direct jobs and hundreds of more ancillary jobs in the community.

In West Virginia and Mingo County, the government is acting as a partner--and as a good partner, not an obstacle--and that is the role our Federal Government should take toward energy independence. This is exactly the kind of project the Federal Government should work on with us to make sure it succeeds. They should be our ally, not an obstacle or an adversary. If my little State has the courage to step out and invest in our independence, then the Federal Government should also have the courage to do the same. West Virginians are sending the right message for this country. We will not let ourselves be held hostage to foreign countries that want to see the United

States be financially crippled simply because those countries have oil.

My State of West Virginia also proves we can and we must use all our domestic resources to break our cycle of dependence on foreign oil within this generation. It doesn't matter whether your State has oil, coal, natural gas, geothermal, nuclear, biomass, wind, solar or hydro because we have to harness all the tremendous resources right here in America or we are going to continue to rely on countries that have contributed directly or indirectly to changing America for the worse.

At the end of the day, it is going to take everything we can do and every resource we have to become truly independent. That is one of the many reasons why I am cosponsoring the American Alternative Fuels Act with my colleague, John Barrasso, from Wyoming. Among other things, the bill would break down barriers to alternative energy fuels, including those from coal, biomass, algae, and waste.

There are other smart, targeted actions we can take in the short term to help reduce the price of gas for our families. I have signed on to an important piece of bipartisan legislation sponsored by my friend, Senator Herb Kohl, from Wisconsin. It is the No Oil Producing & Exporting Cartels Act, better know as NOPEC. This bill would finally allow the Department of Justice to go after foreign countries, such as the members of OPEC, because of their price-fixing behavior.

The other major issue we must address now is speculators and oil company subsidies. This is not a supply issue. The real problem is pure greed--some who are taking advantage of the instability in our world to line their pockets on the backs of American families--or a tax policy that does not make any sense at all, that continues to subsidize oil companies when the price of a barrel of oil is at the highest it has ever been and the profits are at a record high. This doesn't make any sense to American families.

Wouldn't it make more sense that these subsidies they now have should only be available when the cost of production exceeds the price of a barrel of oil? That would be a commonsense solution. It would ensure stability and steady production, and it does not force taxpayers to fill the bank accounts of major oil companies when they are already making record profits.

Because we must do so much more to protect American families, I have also encouraged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to take aggressive steps in the short term to regulate and pursue the oil speculators who are driving the price of a gallon of gas through the ceiling.

While the most important thing our country can do is establish a national energy plan for independence, all of those actions are steps we can take to make sure we relieve the financial pressures on our families and help secure our country.

For all of the wonderful families of West Virginia, for the great people of the United States of America, and all of our children and grandchildren, this country must finally answer the call. It is time. It is truly time. It is time to free this Nation, put politics aside, and work together to make energy independence a national priority.

I truly believe that if we work together as Americans and focus on a commonsense approach, we can develop a strong bipartisan energy plan that will not only break the power of foreign oil countries and speculators, but use the resources that we have right here in America. We can chart a new and promising energy future for this great Nation and we must start today.

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