Ted Poe: “this winter it's going to be cold in the Northeast. Home heating oil is needed for those who want to keep warm in the…”

“this winter it's going to be cold in the Northeast. Home heating oil is needed for those who want to keep warm in the northern States. Gasoline prices continue to rise above $3 a gallon, and crude oil may go to $100 a barrel. So what does the House of Representatives do? Makes it more expensive for American oil companies to do business in America. How so? The non-energy bill that passed this House contains a $21 billion tax increase on the production of oil and natural gas in America. That tax will be passed on to the consumer in the higher prices of energy. The bill doesn't open up new sources of exploration off our coast or in ANWR. Now, only Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama allow drilling off the coast. You see, States like California, Florida, and northeastern States don't want drilling off their coast but they don't have a problem with consuming the crude oil from States that allow offshore drilling. This bill punishes oil-producing States like my home State of Texas. The Wall Street Journal stated, In this bill, the biggest winner is OPEC. So, Mr. Speaker, maybe to survive, Texas and the other oil-producing States should just join OPEC and get a better deal on our crude oil. And that's just the way it is.”