Joe Barton: “We have a demand-driven price because we do not have on the world markets enough cushion to dampen the speculation, so…”

“We have a demand-driven price because we do not have on the world markets enough cushion to dampen the speculation, so the American consumers are having to pay right now on average right at $4 a gallon. I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I don't think American voters and the American citizens are going to be really happy if, in the face of these higher prices, our decision as a Congress is to just shake our fists and say we have the ability to sue the foreign cartel which we call OPEC. So I have the ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. I have been working for the last 6 months with a group of Republicans both on and off the committee. Several weeks ago, we put in a package of 15 bills. These bills, taken together, would produce more American-made energy for American workers and energy consumers. They run the gamut. I'm not going to go through every bill right now, but we look at the oil and gas industry, the coal industry, the nuclear power industry, the alternative energy industry. You name it. We take a look at it, and do something to bring into play American-made resources for American energy consumption. I would encourage all of our Members of Congress to take a look at these bills. We are going to try to get them to the floor as quickly as possible.”