CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush again on Saturday used his weekly radio address to talk about gasoline and energy. Responding to Americans' anger over gasoline prices and the housing bust, he said he is stepping up pressure on Congress to open up offshore oil exploration and work to restore confidence in the housing finance industry, according to the Associated Press. "This is a challenging time for families across our nation," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. "I know many families are worried about rising prices at the pump and declining home values."
Click herefor a full transcript and audio of the President's radio address.
Bush recently lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling. He said it is Congress' turn to act.
"The only thing now standing between the American people and the vast oil resources of the Outer Continental Shelf is action from the United States Congress," he said.
With soaring gasoline prices, public opinion on energy issues is shifting in favor of a more permissive stance on drilling, even though resistance remains to the idea of opening the Atlantic and Pacific coasts or the eastern Gulf off Florida's beaches to oil and gas companies.
There is GOP pressure to open up the Outer Continental Shelf to exploration, and Bush kept the pressure on during his radio broadcast. "The need for congressional action is urgent," he said. "The sooner Congress lifts the ban, the sooner we can get these resources from the ocean floor to the gas pump."
Democrats say they have a different plan to combat record-high gas prices, but that Bush and the Republicans in Congress are blocking it. They argue that oil companies should drill in about 68 million acres of federal land they have already leased for such use—a move the Democrats say would nearly double U.S. production. But it is not clear whether that is a viable option. HR 6515, the "use-it-or-lose-it" Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands (DRILL) Act, failed in the U.S. House to get a two-thirds vote required for passage last week.
They also want the president to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and work with Democrats to crack down on Wall Street traders who are driving up oil prices by buying huge quantities of oil just to resell at a higher price.
"I don't know what President Bush thinks, but $4.50-a-gallon gas is an emergency for America's families," Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), said Saturday in the Democratic radio address. "When was the last time the president filled his own tank?"
Click herefor a full transcript and audio of the Democratic response.
Andclick here for some additional comments about drilling by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on CNN.
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