Chuck Schumer: “I rise to talk about high gas prices and the fact that so many of my colleagues from across the aisle have no interest…”

“I rise to talk about high gas prices and the fact that so many of my colleagues from across the aisle have no interest or seem to have no interest in addressing the problem. Republicans seem not to care about the pain at the pump, but they may well care about the pain at the polls that could come from ignoring this crisis and their constituents. The bottom line is, we are asking to have a debate on the issue of how to reduce gas prices, and the other side just says no. They may have a different solution than we do. They think ANWR is the answer, the Alaska oilfields. We all know that would take 7 years before a drop of oil would come, and most estimates say it would not reduce the price by very much at all. But let's debate it. We are willing to debate ANWR, an issue they care about. Why are they not willing to debate the windfall profits tax or dealing with speculation or dealing with the cartel of OPEC? We are happy to debate it all. Make no mistake, we are facing an energy crisis that has led to a painful and unprecedented spike in the price of oil--$140 a barrel, $4 a gallon--and the minority, the Republicans say this is a problem that is not worthy of our attention or action. It is hard to believe. When you go home, whether it is at a parade or a veterans hall, even at weddings and christenings, people are coming over to you and asking: What are you doing about gas prices? The other side says: Let's not debate it. It is incredible.…”