“Raising taxes increases the cost for consumers, and that is, in effect, what President Obama and Senate Democrats
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s speech.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) recently spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about rising gas prices and the need to increase American energy production.
Excerpts of his remarks are below:
“The price of gasoline is over 100 percent higher than it was when President Obama took office.
“It is clear that the President’s policies are contributing to higher gas prices, but instead of changing course President Obama and Democrats in Congress are doubling down on bad policies and desperate schemes.
“Here is an example. One Senate Democrat–someone across the aisle from me–said: Let’s ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil. He said his solution is to ask the Secretary of State to ask Saudi Arabia to produce more oil.
“Now President Obama and Senate Democrats want to raise taxes on American oil production. So the President and the Democrats want more oil from Saudi Arabia, and they also want to make it more expensive to produce American energy.
“The legislation on the floor doesn’t make sense, and the American people recognize that it doesn’t make sense. Americans know that if you want less of something, you tax it more. They also know that if you want to increase the cost of something, you tax it more.
“Raising taxes increases the cost for consumers, and that is, in effect, what President Obama and Senate Democrats are doing with this legislation. They are proposing increasing gas prices by increasing taxes. Even the author of this legislation has said that ‘nobody has made the claim that this bill is about reducing gas prices.’
“So, then, why would President Obama want to increase gas prices 7 months before a Presidential election? Well, it appears to me it is because his political base fiercely opposes fossil fuels.
“We have seen this before. Of course, I am referring to the President’s rejection recently of the Keystone XL Pipeline, bringing energy from Canada into the United States. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have created thousands of good-paying jobs for Americans. The President said no.
“The Keystone XL Pipeline would have facilitated oil production in Montana and in North Dakota. The President said no. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have increased supplies of oil from Canada. The President said no–to the point that the Prime Minister of Canada actually went to China to ask if they would buy the energy from Canada if the United States is not interested.
“Now the President wants to have it both ways. He would like to please his political base as well as the American public. It is also why the President is considering plans to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“Well, my Republican colleagues and I think there are other ways to address high gas prices.
“I believe there are things we should be doing and can do that will enhance, not jeopardize, our Nation’s security and specifically our Nation’s energy security.
“We understand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for emergencies, not political disasters; and we understand if we want more of something or if we want to lower the cost of something, we do not raise taxes on it. What we do is make it easier to produce the product.
“That is why my Republican colleagues and I support making it easier to produce American energy. And it is why we are asking the President to make it easier to produce American energy–not harder, not more expensive but easier.
“In addition to providing more access to Federal lands and waters and eliminating burdensome regulations, the President should address delivery bottlenecks. Specifically, he should address all the bottlenecks the Keystone XL Pipeline would relieve.
“Here, of course, I am referring to the 100,000 barrels of oil each day that Keystone would ship from Montana and North Dakota. That is right–homegrown American energy from Montana and North Dakota.
“The Keystone XL Pipeline would reduce the cost of shipping American oil. In addition, the pipeline would ship about 700,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada. The Canadian oil would replace oil imports from OPEC and thus increase our Nation’s energy security.
“Approving the Keystone XL Pipeline is an easy decision, and the President should make that decision immediately.
“Again, the President must abandon his support for policies such as this legislation that is ahead of us today, which will only increase the pain at the pump.
“Instead, the President must make it easier to produce American energy. He should increase access to Federal public lands and waters, eliminate costly regulations, and approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
“It is my hope the President will take all of these steps and do so immediately so the American public does not continue to suffer the significant pain at the pump that continues to affect our country today.”
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