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 Pennsyl-
vania, 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 deter-
mined that Northeastern United States fuel reserves are
•HCON 291 IH
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 cre-
ated through the actions of the Organization of Petro-
leum Exporting Countries (‘‘OPEC’’) by market-dis-
torting 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 Re-
serve 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 dis-
torting 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 Petro-
leum Reserve at no cost to the taxpayer;
Whereas the President’s authority to draw down the Stra-
tegic Petroleum Reserve expires on March 31, 2000;
Whereas low global inventories allow OPEC to retain inordi-
nate 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 con-
vene a summit on March 27 for the purpose of discussing
increased production of oil: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) if the March 27 OPEC summit does not re-
sult in a decision to increase production sufficiently
to reduce the price of oil in the United States, re-
versing OPEC’s market-distorting behavior, then
using authority under existing law, directly through
time exchanges (or ‘‘swaps’’) or through other
means, the President and the Secretary of Energy
should draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
in an economically feasible manner and to a respon-
sible degree, to combat unfair foreign trade practices
of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun-
tries and alleviate the severely deleterious con-
sequences to people and business in the United
States that those practices have caused;
(2) Congress should immediately pass, and the
President should sign into law, legislation to reau-
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thorize the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and
extend the President’s authority to release oil from
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and
(3) the President and the Secretary of Energy
should prepare for potential future threats to the
economy and energy supply of the United States by
developing methods to—
(A) increase the quantity of crude oil in
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over time in an
economically reasonable manner that maximizes
the use of domestic energy resources; and
(B) promote a diversified energy portfolio.
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