Rep. Barry Moore: Democrats can’t shift blame for their energy crisis

Washington, D.C. — Rep. Barry Moore issued the following statement on H.R. 7688, the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, a Democrat messaging bill that seeks to blame energy producers for high energy prices by outlawing price gouging. Price gouging is already illegal.

“The Biden administration crippled American energy production, reducing supply and driving up prices, yet is blaming energy producers for the crisis by pushing a bill prohibiting price gouging, which is already illegal,” said Moore. “This outrageous hypocrisy is why Americans hate Washington and is the perfect illustration of why voters are increasingly losing trust in Democrats to offer solutions for the crises they face.”

Background:

From day one, the Biden administration has led an all-out assault on our domestic oil and gas industry. From the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, the suspension of oil and gas leasing on federal lands, and the continued depletion of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Biden Administration’s policies have discouraged and denied development of American natural resources leading to a surge in U.S. oil and gasoline prices over the past sixteen months. House Democrats have repeatedly blocked attempts by Republicans to bring bills to the floor that would actually address the problem at hand and return the U.S. to the energy independent nation it was during the prior administration.

• This bill is an attempt by the Majority to distract and shift blame from the administration’s self-inflicted energy and inflation crisis and blame energy producers, despite no evidence of price gouging. At an Energy & Commerce hearing earlier this month when confronted with the question, Energy Secretary Granholm said, “I’m not sure anyone is saying there is wholesale gouging”.
• H.R. 7688 would take the unprecedented step to allow the FTC to investigate and take enforcement action against “unconscionable pricing” in consumer fuels, a term that is not defined by the bill and amounts to a socialist price fixing scheme that hurts small businesses and consumers the most.
• Democrats are further politicizing the FTC by giving these wide-ranging powers based on undefined parameters that will allow it to usurp market forces and set government-controlled gasoline prices, a step that history has shown will lead to less energy production and further exacerbate families’ pain at the pump.
• This new overreach is also unnecessary—The FTC has investigated gas price increases in the past and concluded that market forces, not bad actors, are the main driver of price fluctuations.
• The Biden Administration continues to create uncertainty in oil and gasoline markets. Just last week, President Biden cancelled the three remaining oil and gas lease sales scheduled in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico and the Administration has failed to plan any future lease sales