Bart Stupak: “this weekend I held four town hall meetings in my vast rural northern Michigan district. I put on over 700 miles as I…”

“this weekend I held four town hall meetings in my vast rural northern Michigan district. I put on over 700 miles as I traveled from small town to small town to meet with my constituents. The number one concern of my constituents was the extremely high price of gasoline. My constituents can't afford to drive the distances necessary to go to and from work. My constituents know they cannot afford the $50 to fill their gas tank. My constituents know that my PUMP legislation, Prevent Unfair Manipulating of Prices, would end the speculation in the pricing of a barrel of oil. My constituents know the legislation would reduce the cost of a barrel of oil by $20 and would lower the cost of the gas at the pump by one-third. We could do that today. My constituents also know that President Bush and the rubber-stamp Republican-controlled Congress will not allow a vote on my legislation. Mr. Speaker, let's lower gas prices today. Let's lower it by bringing forward the PUMP legislation for a vote in this House, and do the people's work instead of the oil companies' work. ____________________”