Ask the Liberals Why We Are Paying Higher Prices at the Pump

ASK THE LIBERALS WHY WE ARE PAYING HIGHER PRICES AT THE PUMP -- (House of Representatives - April 27, 2006)

(Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, our constituents are asking exactly the right question: Why are gas prices so high?

Well, I will tell you. There are liberal Members of this body for the past three decades that have voted to prevent domestic exploration for oil. They have also worked to make it virtually impossible to build new refineries, and they have succeeded. We have not built a new refinery in this country since 1976.

This week we have watched the Democrats stand around wringing their hands about high gas prices and blaming every Republican in sight. But this is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue, and people need to know the truth is in the voting.

Last year we passed the GAS Act with not a single Democratic vote in the House. Not one. That bill would have streamlined the overly burdensome permitting and regulatory work that goes into getting a refinery. It would have made price gouging a Federal crime. The bill got no liberal support here in the House. Now it is in the Senate.

Americans have only to ask the liberals why they are paying so much at the pump.

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