Patrick Leahy: “I, again, join in the introduction of our NOPEC bill. I am sincerely sorry that this bill has not yet become law, and I…”

“I, again, join in the introduction of our NOPEC bill. I am sincerely sorry that this bill has not yet become law, and I hope that the situation we face as a nation will lead the Senate to recognize the toll that the OPEC producers are exacting from the American people. As gasoline prices continue to skyrocket, exceeding $2 a gallon in many communities, we must have a real correction. As heating oil prices have soared, the President needs to take notice. Without correction and containment, consumers across the nation will continue to suffer. The relentless increases in gasoline prices are not the result of natural supply issues. Rather, they are largely due to market manipulation by OPEC, a cartel of those controlling production and supply of oil from the Middle East. When the Antitrust Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary held its hearing on gas prices last year, experts from several fields, both in and out of government, confirmed for us what we already suspected: The higher prices are due to the OPEC cartel that sets production quotas for it members and prevents the free market from setting crude oil prices. The testimony at that hearing revealed that most of the gasoline price increase can be explained by OPEC's unfair production quotas. The artificial pricing scheme enforced by OPEC affects all of us, not the least of whom are hardworking Vermont farmers.”