Today American consumers are bearing the heavy burden of ever escalating prices at the gas pump. Oil prices keep rising as nations like China and India have greater and greater demand for energy. I have seen this crisis coming, which is why I have consistently supported allowing additional drilling for oil here at home, not just since gas prices have reached record levels, but since my arrival in Congress.

Today the President acted to lift the executive ban on offshore drilling. I applaud this step as a move in the right direction toward lower prices in the future. But this action means nothing unless Congress takes similar action. The proposal that I support would not only allow this needed exploration for oil to go forward, but would use the revenue derived from selling these leases and royalties to be invested in research, development and incentives to advance alternatives to oil. It is long past time for the Congress to act and I call on Speaker Pelosi to allow the House to debate and vote on this critical issue for our nation’s energy security.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Politics, Energy/Environment .