IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 291

Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning drawdowns of the Strategic

Petroleum Reserve.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 21, 2000

Mr. KLINK (for himself, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. OLVER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr.

GEJDENSON, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. WYNN, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island,

Mr. COYNE, and Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning drawdowns

of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Whereas the price of crude oil has more than doubled in the

past year to over $30 per barrel, and prices of petroleum

products such as heating oil, diesel fuel, and gasoline

have reached record levels;

Whereas a sharp sustained increase in the price of crude oil

negatively affects the overall economic well-being of the

United States;

Whereas high oil prices harm people and businesses;

Whereas the Energy Information Administration has determined that Northeastern United States fuel reserves are
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the lowest in 20 years and that Americans are ‘‘skating

on thin ice’’ in meeting energy requirements;

Whereas the current price and supply crisis was largely created through the actions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (‘‘OPEC’’) by market-distorting and collusive production reductions, and OPEC’s

activities would be in violation of United States antitrust

laws if conducted within the United States;

Whereas OPEC has demonstrated unity not seen since the

energy crises of the 1970’s;

Whereas the United States has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve of over 570,000,000 barrels of crude oil to protect

against threats to oil supplies;

Whereas many experts, trade associations, and Members of

Congress have called for a drawdown of the Strategic

Petroleum Reserve to combat OPEC’s market distorting

behavior;

Whereas a drawdown or the threat of a drawdown of the

Strategic Petroleum Reserve could provide a critical tool

to break the resolve of OPEC to practice market distorting behavior, and a sale of oil from the Strategic

Petroleum Reserve would increase domestic supplies and

drive down prices in the short term;

Whereas swaps from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve offer a

way to increase the overall size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at no cost to the taxpayer;

Whereas the President’s authority to draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve expires on March 31, 2000;

Whereas low global inventories allow OPEC to retain inordinate control over supply and pricing, and consequently

undue influence over the global economy;
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Whereas Department of Energy Secretary Richardson has led

diplomatic efforts with key OPEC leaders which may

yield beneficial results that would decrease crude oil

prices; and

Whereas the member nations of OPEC are scheduled to convene a summit on March 27 for the purpose of discussing

increased production of oil: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

4 It is the sense of Congress that—

5 (1) if the March 27 OPEC summit does not re6 sult in a decision to increase production sufficiently

7 to reduce the price of oil in the United States, re8 versing OPEC’s market-distorting behavior, then

9 using authority under existing law, directly through

10 time exchanges (or ‘‘swaps’’) or through other

11 means, the President and the Secretary of Energy

12 should draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

13 in an economically feasible manner and to a respon14 sible degree, to combat unfair foreign trade practices

15 of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun16 tries and alleviate the severely deleterious con17 sequences to people and business in the United

18 States that those practices have caused;

19 (2) Congress should immediately pass, and the

20 President should sign into law, legislation to reau-
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1 thorize the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and

2 extend the President’s authority to release oil from

3 the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and

4 (3) the President and the Secretary of Energy

5 should prepare for potential future threats to the

6 economy and energy supply of the United States by

7 developing methods to—

8 (A) increase the quantity of crude oil in

9 the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over time in an

10 economically reasonable manner that maximizes

11 the use of domestic energy resources; and

12 (B) promote a diversified energy portfolio.

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