Patrick Leahy: “earlier this morning, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the consolidation of the energy industry. Regretfully…”

“earlier this morning, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the consolidation of the energy industry. Regretfully, due to a scheduling conflict, I was unable to attend the hearing which was noticed only 1 week ago. I come to the floor this afternoon because this is an issue that needs to be addressed, not only by me, or the Committee, but by this entire body. The exorbitant cost of fuel is one of the most critical issues facing our nation. Strong leadership by this Congress is needed to help all of the Americans whose pockets are being emptied by the skyrocketing costs of fuel. Consumers, small businesses, farmers, families trying to heat their homes in the cold winter months, senior citizens on limited incomes, every community in this country has felt the pinch of trying to keep up with energy costs. Everyone has suffered--or rather, almost everyone. The day before yesterday, the big oil companies posted their year-end profit reports for 2005. The five biggest--ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP, and Shell--trumpet raking in record profits for the year. In fact, ExxonMobil, with $36.7 billion in profit last year, turned the highest yearly profit in U.S. history for any business. We did not hear from these companies today because they have declined to appear at this hearing. I am disappointed by their decision. Boycotting this hearing will not stifle our questions or the need for their accountability to Congress and American consumers.…”