On the recordMay 11, 2011
I rise to speak about an issue that is directly impacting each and every family, not just in West Virginia but throughout this whole country. It is the high gas prices. The truth is, in States all across this Nation, and particularly in West Virginia, countless families have to drive to survive. For these families, a jump in the gas price is not just an inconvenience or an annoyance, it is a threat that hits extremely hard in the pocketbook and could change their way of life. But as every American knows, the cycle of high gas prices is not a new phenomenon with any of us. I still vividly remember waiting in line for gas in the early 1970s, when gas was rationed based on our license number--when we could buy gas. It is something I thought could never happen in America, and I am sure those whom it happened to felt the same. This all came about because of our dependency on foreign oil. If we think back to the early 1970s, we were 28 percent dependent on foreign oil, which we thought was a high number at that time. But today we are more than 50 percent dependent on foreign oil, which has caused a massive transfer of American wealth to countries that do not like us that much and want to do us harm. We have seen this bad movie time and again. Yet somehow it seems Washington keeps thinking there is going to be a different outcome or a different ending.…
