Additional Views

of
Reps. Gene Green and Charles A. Gonzalez

H.R. 3893, the "Gasoline for America's Security
Act of 2005"

We opposed H.R. 3893, the "Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005”, because it would do little if anything to solve the energy problems highlighted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In addition, the flawed process that brought this bill before the Committee is not one that we can endorse as a means to produce thoughtful legislation that addresses real problems.

Refinery capacity is an issue that both Democrats and Republicans are properly concerned about and one that the Congress should examine thoroughly. Our current capacity issues, however, were years in the making and cannot be solved by a series of “quick fixes.” Sweeping changes to public health and environmental laws without the benefit of hearings or due legislative process will only lead to the kind of protracted and contentious debate that we experienced during the Committee markup -- without addressing the real need to increase refinery capacity.

With regard to the high gasoline prices the Nation saw after Hurricane Katrina, H.R.3893, as amended during the markup, purports to address part of the problem through a price-gouging provision of dubious merit that would represent a rollback of some of the existing authorities of the Federal Trade Commission. This is hardly a position that we can support.

Democrats offered a sensible substitute during the markup that addressed price-gouging and refinery capacity, and we would be willing to work with our Republican colleagues to perfect that legislation. But we did not support H.R. 3893, or the process that produced it.