What your congressman will say on the radio today

The following is the full text of Congressman Bart Stupak's Democratic radio address, to be broadcast today on major radio networks including ABC, AP, AURN, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR, American Forces Radio, Voice of America, BBC, CBC, and the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Stupak's address, which responds to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address, will air at 11:06 a.m.

Stupak resides in Menominee, Michigan and represents Michigan's First Congressional District - 31 counties including the entire Upper Peninsula as well as the northern part of the Lower Peninsula,

*********************** Good morning.

This is Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan.

These days, every morning, Americans are paying more and more simply to go to work, to drop off their kids at school or to pick up groceries at the store.

While Americans pay out at the gas pumps, Big Oil rakes in record profits.

Last year, Exxon Mobil posted 36 billion dollars in profits, the largest for any corporation in United States history.

Thursday, the top four oil companies reported a 1st quarter profit of $20 billion and oil executives, like former Exxon Mobil CEO Lee Raymond, retire with $400 million retirement packages.

Meanwhile, gas prices keep skyrocketing and, in Washington, Republicans continue to turn a blind eye to the oil industry's activities.

From this Republican controlled Congress, we hear more of the same: let's just drill our way to energy independence, sacrifice our environment, and provide big tax breaks to big oil.

Democrats, on the other hand, want to implement bold changes that ease consumers' pain today, and, in the longer term, wean America from its addiction to foreign oil.

With gas now averaging nearly three dollars a gallon, it should be clear: giving special tax breaks to the President's oil company friends does not lower gasoline prices.

Last summer, in a time of record deficit spending, when Congress enacted the Republican energy bill, energy companies received nearly 10 billion dollars in special tax breaks.

One of my colleagues, Brian Higgins of New York, has proposed rolling back tax cuts for oil companies and putting the money where it's needed the most: helping pay energy bills for low income Americans, small businesses, farmers and ranchers.

Just as our farmers and ranchers deserve our support during this energy crunch, they also hold the key to our energy future.

Members of the Democratic Rural Working Group, led by Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth and Congressman Bobby Ethridge, are drafting legislation to harness ethanol and other alternative fuels.

Today, 70 percent of the cars in Brazil can run on ethanol derived from sugar cane.

If Brazil can accomplish that, just imagine what American ingenuity will do with more alternative fuels. While ethanol is a long-term solution, Democrats want to move aggressively, right now, to control gas prices.

For the past year, my Democratic colleagues and I have been asking the President and the Republican Leadership in Congress to investigate gas price gouging.

Until recently, the party of big oil has turned a blind eye to gas price gouging.

Most people are shocked to find that: there are no federal laws against gas price gouging, therefore, the Federal Trade Commission has never determined that gas price gouging has occurred.

Why is this?

Because there is no definition of price gouging!

Without a clear definition of price gouging, the FTC can do little more than study the issue.

I have introduced the Federal Response to Energy Emergencies Act also known as the FREE Act.

This legislation will define price gouging and provide the FTC and State Attorneys General with the tools necessary to prosecute "predatory pricing."

Unfortunately, despite repeated requests, the Republican leadership has not allowed a vote on the FREE Act.

Despite Republican opposition, Democrats are offering real solutions to the pain consumers are feeling.

Democrats recognize that three dollars a gallon for gas and 73 dollars a barrel for oil is too much.

We realize that in crafting a new energy policy that breaks America's oil addiction, we must be bold.

Democrats stand ready to implement bold, aggressive policy changes that will alleviate today's energy crisis and answer tomorrow's challenges.

This is Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan.

Thank you for listening.

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