Press Release

Today, after months of House Republicans urging that a meaningful and productive energy bill be brought to the floor, the Democrat Leadership brought the “Consumer Energy Supply Act of 2008” (H.R. 6578) up for a vote. This legislation is neither productive nor responsible, but does show that Democrats are willing to concede that supply matters. Like all other legislation proposed thus far by Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic Leadership, this legislation would not lead to any new oil or gas production. The legislation failed on the suspension calendar, which requires 2/3’s majority support for passage. Congressman Mike Conaway (TX-11) made these comments following the vote:

“Today the Democrats tried to pull another gimmick on the American public by calling for a drawdown on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve of roughly seventy million barrels of crude oil. The American public consumes roughly twenty two million barrels of crude oil per day and world consumption is well over eighty million barrels per day. So, in affect seventy million barrels represents less than four days worth of domestic demand. With such facts noted, it must be the case that Speaker Pelosi’s long-term energy plan is roughly four days long. I think that Congress is expected to look a bit further ahead than that. Yet, today does mark an important milestone: it was finally recognized and publicly stated by the Democratic Leadership that an increase of supply into the market will ultimately lower prices and as a result provide much needed relief at the pump. With these facts finally agreed to, I would call on the Speaker to finally allow for a vote on increased American-made energy production.”

This week House Republicans introduced the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566) to increase the supply of American-made energy into the market place. Republicans will continue to push Democratic leaders in both the House and the Senate to schedule the bill for a vote before the August recess, which is just eight days away.

Conaway went on to say, “At a time when our foreign sources of crude are from areas subject to constant turmoil such as Venezuela and Nigeria a ten percent reduction in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an unnecessary risk. This action would be inconsistent with sound strategic planning to protect the American public from the adverse impacts of any major disruptions in our imports of crude oil.”

According the Department of Energy, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world. Established in the aftermath of the 1973-74 oil embargo, the SPR provides the President with a powerful response option should a disruption in commercial oil supplies threaten the U.S. economy. Its formidable size (700-plus million barrels) makes it a significant deterrent to oil import cutoffs and a key tool of foreign policy.