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Miller votes to curb oil price speculation

WASHINGTON – In an effort to help lower gas prices and stabilize oil markets, Rep. George Miller (D – Martinez) and a majority of the House of Representatives today voted to curb excessive speculation in oil trading markets.

Speculation is believed by many experts to be one of several factors contributing to the dramatic rise in oil prices over the last two years.

“Reducing oil speculation would help to lower oil and gas prices,” said Miller. “Our anti-speculation bill would do more to lower the price of gas at the pump this year than the President’s call to drill for oil off California’s coast would do in ten years.”

The bi-partisan bill represents one of several steps Miller and House Democrats are advocating to achieve short-term relief at the pump and urgently needed changes to America's dependence on foreign oil. Other steps include directing President Bush to release 10 percent of America’s oil reserves now, making major investments in conservation and alternative energy, and compelling oil companies to drill for oil and gas in over 68 million acres of lands and offshore areas that they have already leased – or lose their right to those leases.

Today’s bill, which won a simple majority but not the necessary two-thirds majority needed to pass, had enough votes to win earlier today but ultimately lost after Republican leaders forced more than 15 of their members to switch from voting in favor of the bill to voting against it. (A member of Congress is allowed to change his vote within a confined period of time). In the end, 135 Republicans opposed the measure and ensured its defeat.

“Regrettably, the President said he would veto our bill and Republican leaders in Congress forced their own members to vote against our bill – even after some of them voted for it.

“Oil speculation is one significant reason for higher oil prices and we should take responsible steps to reduce unhealthy speculation that has become rampant in today’s markets,” Miller added. “Curbing speculation is just one part of our comprehensive approach to lower energy costs, reducing our dependence on expensive foreign oil, and moving our country to a more secure, modern, energy future.”

The "Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act" would take several steps to reduce unhealthy speculation in oil markets, including:

closing overseas loopholes that allow speculation to go on unregulated
increasing market transparency with strict reporting standards for traders
setting position limits to prevent individual speculators from dominating the market, and
strengthening the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is operating at its lowest-ever staffing levels, even as trading volume has increased 8,000 times since it was created.

Miller said the House would continue to try to pass this legislation and other measures to lower America’s energy prices.

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New Bay Delta reports prompt response

A spate of reports on the Bay-Delta prompted five Democratic members of Congress to reiterate their calls for prompt and aggressive steps to protect the health of the Bay-Delta ecosystem, restore the state’s salmon fisheries, and avoid being sidetracked by the politically divisive peripheral canal proposal advocated in one recent report.

Last week, a controversial report released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) reignited the peripheral canal debate, while two other reports and a federal judicial ruling made clear that immediate steps must be taken to restore Bay-Delta health and the state's salmon fisheries.

The five lawmakers -- Democratic Reps. George Miller, Ellen Tauscher, Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson, and Jerry McNerney -- represent areas of California from as far north as the Trinity River to the Sacramento River watershed and many Delta communities. They issued the following comments.

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee: “Last century’s water fights are old news. It's past time for us to develop a sustainable water policy for all Californians. Any water plan that focuses on exports and excludes the protection of the Bay-Delta is a non-starter, as it has been for the last thirty years. The Bay-Delta estuary is vital to our region's economy, our fishermen, farmers, and cities. The PPIC report should not be used to ignore the many things that can be done today to restore Delta health, including providing necessary fish flows, undertaking critical ecosystem restoration projects, and making major investments in water recycling and improved conservation measures.”

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Alamo): “The solution to the Delta’s problems will not come from new plumbing alone – we must reduce the amount of water we divert from the Delta, invest in alternative water supplies, and reform the management of our water supply systems. We need a careful analysis of the project proposed by this new PPIC report before moving forward. Congress and the federal government must do their part to ensure that the Central Valley Project is managed to restore the state’s fisheries and reduce unsustainable water allocations. This new report from the PPIC should not be used as a reason to short-circuit the planning processes already underway.”

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento): “Those of us who represent the Delta region and its watershed know that the peripheral canal is not likely to solve our challenges, from the disappearance of our state’s iconic salmon fishery to the repair and management of the fragile levees that support our communities. The bottom line is that we need to come up with solutions for California that don’t rely on taking more and more water out of the Delta and the Sacramento River.”

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena): “Fishing families have paid an extremely high price for the Bush Administration’s illegal water policies. These policies killed over 80,000 salmon on the Klamath River and brought the Sacramento River king salmon stocks – considered the “driver” of all Pacific Northwest salmon – to the lowest levels on record, shutting down the entire fishing season for California and Oregon. The State of California estimates that the total economic impact of these closures to its fishing communities is more than $240 million. Now the State is considering a peripheral canal, which the PPIC report states could have ‘major (negative) effects on salmon?’ This is ridiculous. We are only now starting to right the wrongs of the Bush Administration’s illegal water plans. The debate about the peripheral canal is adding insult to injury to California’s fishing communities.”

Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Tracy): “As our state’s population continues to grow, so do our water needs. We have to figure out a way that makes sense to ensure the health of the Delta and provide water for agricultural, industrial, and residential uses. But California voters rejected a peripheral canal in 1982 and proposing the same conveyance is the wrong solution. I do not support such a proposal.”

Last month, the five legislators strongly cautioned the Bush Administration against weakening protections for California’s Bay-Delta region. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the most valuable estuary ecosystem on the west coast of North or South America and provides fresh water to more than a third of all Californians.

The two studies released this week recommend actions to state and federal policymakers so that California's salmon fishery can be revived and the Bay-Delta estuary restored to health, without threatening the state's water supply:

-- "Water: Finding the Balance" by the Environmental Defense Fund.
-- "Fish Out of Water" by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, and Water 4 Fish.

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Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act

Rep. George Miller praised House passage of the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act by earlier today.

“Californians, seeing the highest foreclose levels in at least 20 years, need help now. Families in Contra Costa and Solano Counties are among the hardest hit by the mortgage crisis,” said Miller (D-Martinez).

"Congress is taking strong action to help these families and their neighborhoods weather this storm and to shore up our housing market.

“The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act, approved today by the House and expected to be signed into law by the president shortly, will help families keep their homes, support neighborhoods suffering from foreclosure, and put provisions in place to help stabilize the housing market,” Miller said.

He highlighted several key features of the bill:

-- Nationwide, 400,000 families facing foreclosure will be eligible to refinance their mortgages into government-backed loans at lower rates to allow them to stay in their primary residences.

-- Communities suffering from the effects of foreclosure will get help to try to revitalize neighborhoods and stabilize local housing markets.

-- A new regulator, authorized today, will provide oversight of the largest guarantors of mortgages in the world -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At the insistence of Democrats in Congress, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will create a new affordable housing fund to help low income families and those who have lost their homes.

-- Several provisions to spur home buying, from tax provisions for first-time home buyers, to increasing loan limits on Veteran's loans, were also included in the bill.

"Our legislation has been the subject of lengthy and intense negotiations between the House, the Senate, and the White House,” said Miller. “I am confident that with its enactment we will take one important step forward to begin to stabilize the economy and help homeowners and their families from this extremely difficult downturn.”

Miller, along with Reps. Ellen Tauscher and Jerry McNerney, have been hosting workshops throughout Solana and Contra Costa counties to help families understand how to prevent or respond to foreclosures. Contact the district office for more information.

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