U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight this afternoon praised President Biden’s calling out Big Oil companies’ greedy gas gouging of American drivers.

“President Biden hit the nail on the head: you can draw a direct line from high gas prices at the pump to greedy gouging by Big Oil executives,” said Chairman Pascrell. “Big Oil billionaires are causing enormous pain to Americans so they can line their already-flush pockets. Our committee released a report earlier this year that vindicated our suspicions and showed Big Oil failed to ramp up production to meet demand.  Under the guise of inflation and the Ukraine war as cover for their gouging greed these tycoons are taking advantage of our tax code to reward executives and investors with lavish buybacks. But if Big Oil is robbing the bank, Republicans are driving their getaway car: every American should know that when we voted to fight gas gouging, every Republican in Congress voted no. I thank President Biden for moving aggressively to ease the pain of Americans at the pump.”

All year, Pascrell has been one of the loudest voices in Congress calling out Big Oil gouging. On March 11, 2022, Pascrell wrote urgently to the heads of the 11 oil and gas companies with revenues over one billion dollars demanding answers on their executive profiteering, corporate stock buybacks, and enjoyment of U.S. tax benefits.

On August 24, 2022, Pascrell released an investigation report from the House Ways and Means Committee confirming that big oil companies failed to ramp up production to meet demand, precipitating a crisis.

On May 19, 2022, House Democrats passed the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act (H.R. 7688) to crack down on greedy gas gouging. Every single Republican in the chamber voted no and Republican senators have been blocking a vote on the legislation for now 151 days.

Last week, Pascrell published an op-ed in the Bergen Record titled, “Oil Companies Need to Stop Screwing New Jersey Drivers.”