Maurice Hinchey: “this resolution is an imposter. Its very name, the Oil Price Reduction Act, is a trick and a deception. If we wanted to…”

“this resolution is an imposter. Its very name, the Oil Price Reduction Act, is a trick and a deception. If we wanted to do something about it and we must, that is, the price of oil, we know what we have to do. But the majority party here has refused to do it. You have refused to allow a bill on the floor which will allow us to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to deal with price fluctuations. You have refused to allow a bill on the floor which will establish a home heating oil reserve in the Northeast to deal with the cost of home heating in that part of the country. You have refused to deal with a bill, and bring a bill out on the floor which will reduce the consumption of oil through transportation, particularly through automobiles. You have refused to bring legislation out on the floor which will allow this one to be amended which would allow for conservation and for the development of alternative energy. All of these things are needed. Yet you have refused to do any one of them. Instead, what you have done is dragged this imposter out here to pretend you are doing something when it is clear you are doing nothing.”