Political Quotes

“Mr. President, day after day, record-high oil and gasoline prices are hurting millions of American consumers and businesses. Unless something is done to make energy more affordable, the record-high prices will continue to reverberate throughout our economy, increasing the prices of transportation and food and manufacturing and everything in between. Skyrocketing energy prices are a threat to our economic and national security, and the time is long past for action. My Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has conducted four separate investigations into how our energy markets can be made to work better. Most recently, last December, we had a joint hearing with the Senate Energy Subcommittee on the role of speculation in rising energy prices. As a result of these investigations and hearings, I have been advocating a variety of measures to address the rampant speculation and lack of regulation of energy markets which have contributed to sky-high energy prices. Some of those measures are: First, put a cop back on the beat in the energy markets to ensure these markets are free from excessive speculation and manipulation, and that cop has to be a regulatory agency; stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until prices are lower; develop alternatives to fossil fuels to lessen our dependence on oil; and impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies that have profited from the massive price increases.”