Byron Dorgan: “this afternoon, according to the news accounts released earlier today, the Environmental Protection Agency is calling on…”

“this afternoon, according to the news accounts released earlier today, the Environmental Protection Agency is calling on major oil refiners to meet in Washington, DC, to explain the price hike phenomenon, as it is called. This is not a phenomenon. It is a pain in the wallet what is happening with respect to the price of gasoline. I want to talk a little about that, and talk a little about the problems that may be causing it. It is not lost on the American people that when they drive to the gas pumps these days they are discovering, once again, another price spike in the cost of gasoline. In North Dakota, for example, the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association provided me with current gasoline prices in North Dakota: Minot, $1.79 a gallon today; Fargo, $1.64 a gallon; Devil's Lake, $1.69; Bismarck, $1.68 a gallon. Interestingly enough, the current price in Bismarck of $1.68 is nearly a 30-cent-per-gallon increase in just the last couple of weeks since the previous price spike.”