Luz Rivas: “I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the poster behind me. This is a real photo that my staff took of a gas station in…”

“I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the poster behind me. This is a real photo that my staff took of a gas station in Los Angeles. It is a real photo. It is not AI, and it is not photoshopped. Your eyes are not deceiving you, Mr. Speaker. You are seeing a real gas station showing $8.71 a gallon for regular gas. In the span of 1 week, gas prices shot up 50 cents--in just 1 week--and oil prices hit $100 a barrel. Gas prices are nearly $3.50 per gallon on average across the country, but experts believe Trump's war in Iran could push the average cost of gas to above $4 a gallon within weeks. Analysts say that Americans will spend nearly $1 billion more on gas next week. Diesel prices are up 86 cents to $4.60 per gallon, and jet fuel prices have skyrocketed, hiking prices for shipping and airfare. Trump has not shown concern for how the rising cost of gas could hurt Americans' wallets saying: 'If they rise, they rise.' The United States produces more oil than any country on Earth, and even that supply could not stop gas prices from surging 50 percent in 10 days. Drilling more will not help Americans at the gas pump when oil companies are shipping oil barrels overseas, and it certainly will not help when a strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, is shut down. Trump's only response is to call us fools and gaslight the American people into thinking he is doing a good job. That is an out-of-touch response from an out-of-touch person.”