Ted Poe: “As gasoline prices soar to almost $4 a gallon, the American driving public wants Congress to do something about it, and…”

“As gasoline prices soar to almost $4 a gallon, the American driving public wants Congress to do something about it, and it is our responsibility. Where I live, I represent a good part of rural southeast Texas, and many of these individuals are rice farmers, and they work the land, and they can't afford the diesel for their pickup trucks and for their trucks to go and work at the refineries in southeast Texas. All people throughout the country have this same common issue: Why are gasoline prices so high? Why isn't Congress doing something about it? Well, part of the reason is Congress, instead of exploring our own natural resources, Congress has decided to make the decision to punish energy consumption in this country and to make it more difficult for America to take care of Americans. Congress' policy is let's rely on OPEC; let's rely on that dictator Chavez and get their crude oil while we figure out something else to do on how to take care of ourselves down the road, but the problem is immediate, and we need to deal with it, and we can deal with it. The first issue: Drilling for crude oil and natural gas.”