Bart Stupak: “as Congress prepares to leave for the August recess, American families are being forced to make significant sacrifices…”

“as Congress prepares to leave for the August recess, American families are being forced to make significant sacrifices just to be able to afford to drive to work, let alone try to take their family vacation this summer. I find it appalling that this body has not properly addressed high gas prices. Over the Fourth of July, the national average price for a gallon of gas was approximately $3.00. Gas prices in my northern Michigan district exceeded $3.00, with many areas seeing a 20 to 25 percent increase in gas prices in 24 hours from July 2 to July 3, just in time for the July 4th holiday. For almost a year now, we Democrats have been calling on the Republican leadership to allow a real price gouging bill to be passed into law. One hundred thirty-five Members of this body have signed a discharge petition requesting that my legislation, the Federal Response to Energy Emergencies Act, the FREE Act, be brought to the floor for a vote. After continuing lobbying from Democrats, Republicans finally introduced their own legislation, which was called price gouging, and it was a price gouging bill in theme only. That bill was passed by this body in May, and it has been stalled in the other body, controlled by the Republicans.…”