On the recordApril 14, 2011
I wish to talk about another topic. Senator Kirk and 36 other Members of the Senate are cosponsoring an amendment we would hope to add to the small business bill if we ever get back to it. This is an amendment we offered independently as a bill 1 month ago, the Gas Accessibility and Sustainability Act. What this bill does is take further an effort that was put into law in 2005, right before Hurricane Katrina, that allowed the President to suspend the unique boutique fuel standards in the country if there was a natural disaster. That happened immediately--within a couple weeks, as I recall--after the bill became law. The President used that authority. In the 6 months following Katrina, even though the gulf was obviously disrupted and a couple of refineries were very disrupted, gas prices did not go up because, for the first time since the passage of the Clean Air Act, gasoline was a commodity again. What this bill would do, as we now see gasoline prices at $4.37 in Hawaii, at $3.88 in St.…
