Washington- June 25, 2008

Mr. Speaker, the two men most responsible for our record prices at the pump today are President Bush and Vice President Cheney. They came to the White House from the executive suites of Big Oil, and their energy policies continue to mirror Big Oil's agenda.

President Bush has, once again, called for drilling in ANWR even though his own Energy Department has said that opening up the Arctic would only save pennies per gallon 10 years from now. Now the President has suggested opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling even though 80 percent of the oil available there is already open to leasing.

Why would we give Big Oil access to more of our land and waters if they refuse to drill on the 68 million acres they have now? If President Bush believes that drilling is the answer, why isn't he demanding that Big Oil use the land they already have?

Mr. Speaker, Republicans have repeated the same domestic drilling rhetoric for years. Tomorrow they have the chance to act on that rhetoric and to tell Big Oil to either use it or lose it by joining us in passing the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008.