Date: 2007-05-09
Speaker: WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (democrat)
Chamber: H

Thank you. Mr. MURPHY. You know. I really became enraged this weekend because you both have heard me refer to myself .as what I am. and that is a "minivan mom." I am a minivan mom. one of the millions of minivan moms that drive around my district with the kids in the back seat. And I can tell you that we. ideally. if you are a mom with little kids. would drive a smaller vehicle so that you could save gas. so that you could save money. so that you could be more energy efficient and environmentally conscious. However. when you are traveling from soccer to baseball to dance class to school and all the things that minivan moms have to do. you need a vehicle the size of a minivan. And they are expensive to fill up. Believe me. This weekend. we were back up. just for 87 octane. when I filled my gas tank. 87 octane in my hometown of Weston was $3.06 a gallon..The 93 octane was about $3.88. I stood there. and it had been a while since we felt the rage and actually a while since I have gotten feedback from constituents about their frustration. because. like you said. I am actually an idealist. I am- not a cynic. I am not someone that believes in conspiracy theories. There is just no question in my mind that that drop in gas prices was absolutely tied to the potential fortunes of the Republican candidates for Congress and this administration. So I am just going to say it straight out. The only explanation other than that and the only explanation for the insensitivity on the part of the President and this White House must be that they are not filling their own tanks. Maybe their drivers are doing it for them. I would like to take the opportunity to introduce our colleagues and the President to a gas tank. This is what they look like. And when you insert the pump into your vehicle. the indicator on the gas pump shows you how much you are paying and shows you the total at the end after you are done filling your tank. II 2100 They are not filling their own tank. That must be the only explanation why the President hasnt taken any steps to address our dependence on foreign oil. to deal with the record profits. obscene profits that the oil industry is making. I dont understand how he could look himself in the mirror after the 2006 State of the Union which I was here for and you guys were running to join us here. I heard President Bush stand at that lectern and tell us that we must end Americas addiction to foreign oil. It clearly was just words. That is what they are good at. They are good at the words. They just are not good at backing up the words with action. But we are. Here we are talking about what we need to do. I want us to share with our colleagues and other folks that might be listening what our plans are. because we are going to take some action. We represent the folks that drive minivans around their district and drive pickup trucks and who run small businesses who need to -make sure that gas prices dont cut their legs out from under their business and prevent them from being able to function. That is the reality on the ground every day. Your gas prices go up. you have a harder time choosing to provide your employees with health insurance. you have a harder time being able to buy that piece of equipment your business needs. There is a direct result on small businesses from gas prices going up. We are taking several significant steps. The Speaker has created a Select Committee on Global Warming and Energy Independence. That was a controversial move but something that she felt was important because it is so critical that we address the issue of global warming and energy independence that we needed to highlight it and put it up on a pedestal and get Members to travel the world and talk about how we can move the ball down the field and address this issue. In addition to the hearings and oversight that select committee will be doing. and that select committee will meet for a year time period because there needs to be action taken within a very short time span so we can get some results for the American people. Also. in the Energy and Commerce Committee. we will be hearing Mr. STUPAKS legislation called the Energy Price Gouging Prevention Act to immediately provide relief to consumers and prevent the oil companies from price gouging like what is clearly going on here. I mean. we cannot allow the oil industry toput our constituents on the roller coaster ride that they are clearly on right now. We have to do a number of things. We have to set an example in this institution. Speaker PELOSI has moved forward with the Greening the Capitol Initiative. I am privileged to chair the subcommittee which will be working on a lot of the initiatives for the Greening the Capitol project. What we will be doing is within the next 2 years. by the end of the 110th Congress. we will establish policies that will make our Capitol complex carbon neutral. and we will make sure that we set an example for businesses across the country. We have to take several major steps to provide relief and balance and focus on alternative energy research so we can truly wean ourselves off dependence from foreign oil and not just talk about it. I am a little hot about that. I see the Speaker is standing on her feet. which means we are probably getting close to the end of our time.