IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 273
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning drawdowns of the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 9, 2000
Mr. GEJDENSON (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. LARSON, Mr.
HINOJOSA, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. MINGE, Ms. DANNER,
Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, and Mr. WALSH) submitted
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Commerce
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of 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 273 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 Pe-
troleum Reserve to combat OPEC’s market distorting be-
havior;
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 Pe-
troleum 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; and
Whereas low global inventories allow OPEC to retain inordi-
nate control over supply and pricing, and consequently
undue influence over the global economy: Now, therefore,
be it
•HCON 273 IH
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
SECTION 1. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) using authority under existing law, directly
through time exchanges (or ‘‘swaps’’) or through
other means, the President and the Secretary of En-
ergy should draw down the Strategic Petroleum Re-
serve in an economically feasible manner and to a
responsible degree, to combat unfair foreign trade
practices of the Organization of Petroleum Export-
ing Countries and alleviate the severely deleterious
consequences to people and businesses in the United
States that those practices have caused; and
(2) the President and the Secretary of Energy
should prepare for future threats to the economy
and energy supply of the United States by devel-
oping methods to—
(A) draw down the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve quickly when needed; and
(B) increase the quantity of crude oil in
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over time in an
economically reasonable manner.
Æ