Ted Poe: “the price of gasoline is $3 a gallon. Americans want answers, and they want solutions. According to the American…”

“the price of gasoline is $3 a gallon. Americans want answers, and they want solutions. According to the American Petroleum Institute, the nationwide average of tax on gasoline is 45 cents a gallon. This is split between State and Federal governments. The oil companies make about 9 cents a gallon on gasoline, so Washington, D.C., makes more off a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies. Congress should consider suspending part of the gasoline tax for a period of time to lower gasoline prices. Gasoline prices are going up because OPEC controls 50 percent of the world's crude and is driving up the price of gasoline. The U.S. needs to be drilling offshore. Now we only drill off the coast of Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. There is crude out there in our gulf coast and east coast and even the sacred west coast. We can't have it both ways: Refuse to drill offshore and have cheaper gasoline prices. It is not going to work. We can drill safely offshore, and we need to do so to prevent being held hostage by third-world countries. Mr. Speaker, that's just the way it is. ____________________”