Arlen Specter: “Mr. President, I have sought recognition to speak on an amendment which has been filed, amendment No. 1519, which has an…”

“Mr. President, I have sought recognition to speak on an amendment which has been filed, amendment No. 1519, which has an impressive list of sponsors: Senator Kohl, Senator Leahy, Senator Grassley, Senator Biden, Senator Coburn, Senator Feingold, Senator Snowe, Senator Durbin, Senator Boxer, Senator Lieberman, Senator Schumer, Senator Sanders, and myself. The thrust of this amendment is to make the OPEC nations--which have conspired to limit production--subject to our antitrust laws. What we have, simply stated, are a group of oil-producing nations, that get together that make agreements to limit production. Inevitably, by limiting the production of oil, and thereby limiting supply, the price goes up. The limited supply of oil is the major contributing factor to high gasoline prices. It is high time we acted on this matter. The Judiciary Committee has approved this legislation on four occasions, most recently on May 22 of this year. In the 109th Congress, the legislation was passed out of the Judiciary Committee in which I was the chair, and it was included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but it did not survive conference. Senator Kohl and I and the other sponsors intend to ask for a rollcall vote, which I think a substantial number of Senators will vote for the amendment.”