Markey: Bush's “Jawbone" Apparently Broken
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081
Markey: Bush’s “Jawbone” Apparently Broken
Plea for Saudi Oil Falls on Deaf Ears, Highlights Need for Immediate Signing of SPR Bill
WASHINGTON (May 16, 2008) – Saudi Arabian leaders rejected pleas from President Bush today to increase production of oil, making the signing of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve bill that Congress has forced on the president even more urgent.Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the president yesterday asking him to live up to his campaign promise from 2000 to “jawbone OPEC” into producing more oil on his Saudi Arabia visit. Since President Bush took office, OPEC’s production has stayed relatively flat, even as global demand has skyrocketed.
The letter is available HERE.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, then-Governor Bush told voters that if elected he “would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply. . .use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot.” He also stated in 2000 that the next president “ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots. . .And the President of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price.”
Below is the statement of Rep. Markey, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming:
“It appears that when it comes to getting the Saudi’s to turn on the spigot and produce more oil, the president’s political ‘jawbone’ is broken.
“While Americans are getting pummeled at the pump, the president apparently is unable to even squeeze another drop of oil from the Saudi sheiks.
“Today’s action comes after months of presidential inaction on deploying America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help bring down prices. That failure led Congress to pass a bill barring further purchases of oil for the Reserve. That bill is sitting on his desk now, and he should sign it and act immediately when he returns.
“The president has delayed taking action on gas prices for too long, perhaps hoping his Saudi friends would bail him out. That course of inaction has now failed, and now the President must wield the power he had all along to aggressively use our nation’s oil reserves to help Americans at the pump.”
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PLEASE NOTE: The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was created to explore American clean energy solutions that end our reliance on foreign oil and reduce carbon pollution.
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
The Select Committee was active during the 110th and 111th Congresses. This is an archived version of the website, to ensure that the public has ongoing access to the Select Committee record. This website, including external links, will not be updated after Jan. 3rd, 2010.
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