[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11] [House] [Pages 15297-15298] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]IT IS TIME TO HELP AMERICANS WITH GAS PRICES The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, the American people are hurting with the cost of gasoline at the pumps, the rising price at the pumps, a weak economy that we're facing nationally and pending tax increases, a housing crisis that's facing many Americans, the struggles we've had in western North Carolina with bad trade deals. Mr. Speaker, the American people are hurting, and it is because of rising prices at the pumps. That is the most egregious and powerful punch that this Democrat Congress has laid before the people of America. There are some in this House that have been advocating for increasing the supply, making sure that new oil refineries are online, new American production of oil and natural gas. Then we have those, mostly liberals in this House, mostly Democrats, that say, No. We don't want any new production. No. We will side with the extreme environmentalists, not with American people who are screaming. They will support the screaming environmentalists rather than the families that are screaming, screaming when they take their kids to school, screaming when they just go out for a Saturday afternoon. I will tell you the American people need help when it comes to the price of fuel. And this Democrat Congress has abdicated its responsibility in this role. The American people will be furious when they find out that we have American resources that can be tapped into. And so many of us, my colleagues and many in this House, have been advocating more supply. And yet the Speaker of the House will say, No, we don't want new American supply. That won't do anything to the price of gasoline at the pumps. Well, just this morning, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, testified before the Financial Services Committee. And in answering a question about the cost of price at the pumps, the question was posed to him, ``Would increasing supply cut the price of gas at the pumps?'' His response--here. I have blown it up large so that my Democrat colleagues can read it. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve said, ``A 1 percent increase in supply could lower prices by as much as 10 percent.'' A 1 percent increase in supply could lower prices by as much as 10 percent. This was the testimony, as of this morning, in front of the Financial Services Committee. This is a very important thing for this Congress to understand, that if we allow for more exploration here that has been prevented by law, it can bring down prices. Now, I'm not a newcomer to this. I have been advocating things from my first days here in Congress. I think we need to have an American energy policy that is multi-tiered. First, we need to have new refineries. We also, along with that, have to have new domestic exploration of oil. That can be done off the deep waters of our coast. It can be done in remote areas of Alaska, such as ANWR. It could be done in the Rocky Mountain West with oil shale production. These things can be done if Congress acts. And I think it's high time Congress acts with the price of gasoline over $4 a gallon in western North Carolina. But that's not it. We can't just stop there. Certainly it will bring down prices, as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve said, if we increase that production. But we have to go a step further. We have to ask the American people to conserve energy. Conservation is not a means to American energy independence, though it is a sign of personal virtue. But it can help on the margins. And it can help family budgets across western North Carolina. But beyond that, we have to heavily invest in alternative sources of energy. There will be a day when our economy is powered by alternative sources of energy. Whether it's an electric car or hydrogen-powered automobile, a natural gas-powered automobile, or even perhaps some nuclear-powered device, these things are possible and we have to heavily invest in that. But until that day comes, it is imperative that this Congress act and act now for American energy independence through domestic energy exploration. American oil, American natural gas, that creates American jobs and keeps wealth here in America. [[Page 15298]] Mr. Speaker, it is time this Congress acts, and it's time that we take the proper steps to help the folks across America who are struggling with high gas prices. ____________________