On the recordSeptember 20, 2012
the price of gasoline at the pump is double what it was 4 years ago. The majority in this Senate has done nothing to address that problem, and this administration has done nothing to address that problem. In fact, we are moving in the wrong direction. The President's 5-year lease plan for offshore leases is half what the previous plan was. Production in the gulf is down following his imposed moratorium and it is beginning to go down further. It has gone from 1.55 million barrels a day in 2010 to 1.32 in 2011, and it is still headed down to 1.23 in this year. Two years before the moratorium, the Energy Information Administration, where all these numbers come from, said it would be 1.76 million barrels a day this year. We are the most energy rich country in the world, but this Senate majority, this administration will not allow us to access our own resources for our own good. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Dakota.
