BACKS PLAN TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND FILLING THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM OIL RESERVE

With Memorial Day around the corner and gas prices soaring to record highs in New Jersey, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) voted to approve a measure in the House of Representatives that would immediately reduce gas prices by 5 to 24 cents a gallon.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act directs the Bush Administration to temporarily suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) putting 70,000 barrels of oil back on the market every day.  With the reserve currently 97 percent full sitting at its highest level ever, enough petroleum exists to meet America’s national security needs.   

“Temporarily suspending contributions to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would provide immediate relief to the millions of American families and businesses,” stated Pascrell.  “The action Congress took today should not be mistaken for a long term solution, but it is a sensible response to the outrageous toll that gasoline prices are taking on consumers.”

Temporarily compromising the SPR is not without precedent.  President George W. Bush, his own father President George H.W. Bush, and President Bill Clinton each suspended contributions to the SPR or tapped into it.  In 2000, the price of oil dropped by one-third from $30 to $20 a barrel when President Clinton tapped into the reserve to draw an additional 30 million barrels.  

“The President’s refusal to consider the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during these difficult economic times demonstrates a complete lack of leadership and highlights the incredible disconnect between the President and working class American people.  It would be a tremendous mistake for the President to disregard the bipartisan demand from Congress to take immediate action on lowering gas prices.”

In addition to the short term fix approved in Congress today, the House has approved long term solutions to America’s energy crisis that include the first fuel economy increase in over thirty years, a repeal of subsidies for profit-rich big oil companies, and new measures to hold OPEC nations accountable for oil price fixing.

###