Pelosi Remarks at Press Conference on New Democratic Legislative Efforts to Lower Gas Prices
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. and Chairwoman Maria Cantwell held a press conference to address Democrats' legislative efforts to lower gas prices for Americans. Below are the Speaker's remarks:
Speaker Pelosi. Good morning, everyone.
It is with great pleasure and an honor to welcome two of our former very important colleagues back to the House side. I'm going to start with Maria because she was – when she came she, she helped us hold a majority in the Congress, and then she went over to the Senate side. And we take great pride and proprietary interest in her leadership there. And of course, Chuck.
[Laughter]
But Chuck has been here on a number of occa – Chuck, the distinguished Majority Leader, has been here on a number of occasions, and we have taken pride in his service in the House as well. In that spirit of friendship and respect for our values and our service in the Congress, welcome. Welcome.
I'm pleased to be here with Chairman Pallone, the Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. And again, both of us pleased to be with the two Senators, the Leader and Senator Cantwell, as the House and the Senate announce our plans to bring forward legislation to lower prices at the pump for the American people.
The House and the Senate have been hard at work for weeks to address the burden. There's so many suggestions that people have, starting down this path to address the rising gas prices. We call it the Putin Price Hike. And Putin has something to do with oil. Iraq has some – excuse me, Ukraine has something to do with supply and therefore cost.
But there is an ongoing challenge to us that the American people understand very clearly. And that is that Big Oil has profiteered in this, has exploited the marketplace. This past year, the report is they've made over $200 billion in profits. You talked about that on the Floor of the Senate yesterday. I'm sure you will here today. But they are hoarding the windfall while keeping prices high for people at the pump. And this time of war, and any time, there's no excuse for Big Oil companies to protect – to profiteer, to price gouge or exploit families.
That is why Democrats are moving forward with forceful action that will stop and hold accountable oil and gas companies for profiteering and manipulating markets. This is a top priority for all of us. The House and Senate are putting together our bills, led by – to Mr. Pallone in the House and Chairwoman Cantwell in the Senate. We are confident that what we pass will be signed by the President, we think, and will be strong, tough and effective.
We are laser-focused on lowering costs at the pump and across the board, not just at the pump. To that end, we're continuing our conversations to lower food prices. Yesterday, the Agriculture Committee held a hearing to hold meatpacking conglomerates accountable for unfair practices that hurt ranchers and push up prices.
Here's the thing: there, there are many aspects to this, but the price of gas and the price of oil have an impact on the price of many other things, including the price of food. So lowering costs at the pump, lowering costs at the kitchen table. That's what Democrats are about.
And again, we're going – getting down this path with very serious legislation that is for now, recognizing COVID and what that has done to supply – the Ukraine [situation], what that has done to supply. But recognizing there is an ongoing exploitation and manipulation that is unfair to America's working families. And so, as we address the current challenge, we want it to have benefits on the ongoing.
With that, I'm very pleased to welcome the distinguished Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Chuck Schumer.
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Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, Mr. Leader of – our distinguished guests have agreed to be available for questions on this subject. We'll start with that.
Yes, ma'am?
Q. Madam Speaker, Leader and Senator Cantwell, can you just tell us in respect to the federal gas tax holiday, is this part of the legislative package? Are you planning to move forward with that? Where do you think you stand?
Speaker Pelosi. Well, we're putting forth – this is what we talked about today. There is some interest – there had been some interest in the holiday. The pros of it are that it's good PR – you're asking about it. The cons are that there's no guarantee that the saving – the reduction in the federal tax – that would be passed on to the consumer. We had no evidence to think that the oil companies would pass that on to the consumer.
At the same time, it has to be covered. We have to pay for it. Because the money would come out of the – would come out of the Highway Trust Fund, and we can't have that shortfall there. So we'd have to pay for it. So the question is, is it worth having to go get money, to return to cover the shortfall and the trust fund, in order to get a break to the Big Oil companies?
Leader Schumer. If you ask the American people, in the all the survey data, what is causing the increase in gas prices? Number one is market manipulation and Big Oil not giving a break. That is what we're focusing on.
Q. Senator Schumer?
Leader Schumer. Yeah?
Q. The Senate Judiciary Committee is led to mark-up – note that legislation that would allow the U.S. government to sue OPEC from them [inaudible] places. Is that something you would bring to the Floor in your efforts to bring down –
Leader Schumer. Well, I have to see the Senate, the Senate's – the Judiciary Committee's legislation. Obviously OPEC is a problem, but the number one problem where we have the best effect, the quickest effect and the most domestic and – and the most focus is what we're talking about today. Gouging, manipulation. That's number one. And that's what we're focusing on today.
Speaker Pelosi. Garrett?
Q. I think the other side of the aisle would say you know, like about what Chairman Pallone just said – you know, so much of oil and gas is produced in authoritarian nations and places we can't control. It's unsafe circumstances. Why not encourage more domestic energy production as another solution to your –
Leader Schumer. Well, here's the bottom line: they're not even using the money for domestic energy production. They're using it for stock buybacks. They're using it to make their shares go up. They're using it for other things.
We wouldn't be here if the oil companies were using it to make the American consumers' price cheaper. They're not doing it.
Chairwoman Cantwell. What's – the key issue here is why you need transparency and more enforcement. The tighter the markets, the tighter the supply, the more chances for manipulation. So when you have this condition, if you have a lot of supply, you don't have that problem. Now it's important to have a policeman on the beat. So our colleagues need to answer the question: are they for transparency? Or are they not?
Leader Schumer. The bottom line is, if you'd look at what we're doing here, we're shining a light –
Bye bye, Maria. They're busy. They're committee chairmen. We can hang around.
We're doing two things. We're shining a spotlight, we're picking up the hood and shining a spotlight on how these corporations price and function. And then we're giving the authorities, the FTC and others, the tools to fix what was wrong once they found it. Plain and simple. And that is the number one issue facing the – high price and oil company and you ask the public, they agree. They say COVID and price gouging.
Q. Madam Speaker, Mr. Leader, everyone knows this, this is a factor in gas prices, but the Energy Department itself said this is a fraction – with the area you're talking about, that determines gas prices. How much do you think this could end up saving consumers? And how long would this take?
Leader Schumer. $200 billion in profits last year. $40 billion in buybacks. It's really – my calculations have it more. If all that went to the consumer, that would be a lot of money.
Q. But how much and when?
Speaker Pelosi. And let me just say this. This is about –
Leader Schumer. That's why we're passing this legislation.
Speaker Pelosi. – about making change for now and for the future. If you want to talk about this, that or the other tactic – that is for the moment, which may or may not even have a benefit. That's not what this is about. This is about looking.
Now, I want to tell you, when – we've been engaged in negotiations with the other side on budget issues for a long time. And when we were trying to find $200 billion for a budget agreement when President Obama was President, I said in a meeting at the White House, 'Why don't we take $38 billion? Why don't we take the $38 billion that are there as an incentive to drill when the companies were making hundreds of billions of dollars in profits?' I'm not talking gross; I'm talking net.
They're making hundreds of billion dollars in profit. They do not need an incentive to drill from the taxpayer – $38 billion. And you know what the Republican response was? Hold on to your hat that you don't have on. They said: ‘Why would we take $38 billion from the oil companies when we can just cut Pell grants to that extent.' It's a difference of values. Understand that and we –
Leader Schumer. If you look at the giving – the finance, the giving of oil, gas and coal – a huge percentage of the campaign committees, the Republican Senate, maybe the House too, comes from those three industries. And they're immovable. We asked our Republican colleagues in the Senate a few years ago: ‘Do you believe global warming is real? Do you believe it's caused by human activity? Do you believe Congress should do something about it?' Only five or six would say yes.
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah, and by the way, one of the things they were trying to do with this was to undo the initiatives that we want to put forth to save the planet from the climate crisis. It's like, what? You want to reverse that?
And I'll say this: when – we have in the Senate and the House legislation to have cleaner government. That the legislation – in that legislation, it shines a bright light on big dark money and says we have to get rid of that. The one thing that the Republicans care the most about. We're talking about voter suppression. We're talking about nullification of elections. We're talking about empowering the grassroots. We're talking about commission redistricting, taking away partisan redistricting. The one thing they worry about most is that their big gun money, their dark gun money, their dark fossil fuel money, their dark pharmaceutical money, their dark – all of that would be affected by that legislation.
So there is a direct connection between this money and public policy and the air that our children breathe and the price that their families pay at the pump, which, as Senator Cantwell said – Madam Chair said – it has an impact on the cost of everything else as well.
Leader Schumer. I got to go. Bye, everybody.
Speaker Pelosi. Thank you, Mr. Leader.
Q. Given the fact that you have said and Chuck Schumer has said that some of the Republicans are immovable on these issues –
Speaker Pelosi. Are what?
Q. Are immoveable on these issues.
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.
Q. How do you expect to actually pass this legislation? And how does this –
Speaker Pelosi. Public opinion. How many times have you ever heard me say Lincoln said: ‘Public sentiment is everything. With it you can do almost anything. Without it, practically nothing.' The American people know.
Here we have a necessity. A necessity to travel, to go to work, to take kids to school, to bring people to their medical – to meet their medical, whatever it is. It's a necessity to have access to transportation. And what do we do? Have an exploitation of the worth – of the, of the, of the consumer, who definitely has the need, doesn't have many other choices and we'll hope that the American people weigh in because we see this so clearly. And I'm on constant Zooms around the country – or visits, to the extent possible of COVID – around the country. People want to know why we are not doing something about the exploitation of Big Oil in terms of its impact on America's working families.
I'm very excited about this possibility. So let's see how the public weighs in, and let's hope that our Republican colleagues – enough of them – will come down on the side of their constituents and the consumers instead of Big Oil.
Q. Madam Speaker, it's been almost a hundred days since you came out in favor of staffer unionization –
Speaker Pelosi. I'm talking about this subject now. Do we have any further questions about this? Yes? Chad?
Q. Do you think that the public is blaming Democrats? Or will continue to blame Democrats?
Speaker Pelosi. No, I don't think the public is blaming Democrats. I think they're blaming the oil companies. They will blame all of us if we don't do something about the fossil fuel industry.
Q. But they won't take that out on your side during the midterms? If – even if you pass this bill and prices don't get back to normal, the perception is –
Speaker Pelosi. Why would we say that? I don't think what you're saying is making very much sense, frankly. I mean, in all fairness, we're friends. Candor is part of our friendship. The Republicans are standing in the way. The Republicans are standing in the – if, if – let's hope they don't – if the Republicans stand in the way of us freeing, freeing the consumer of the stranglehold of Big Oil, you think they're going to blame that on the Democrats? You think that? You think that? Okay.
Yes, sir?
Q. What is your timeframe on this legislation?
Speaker Pelosi. The Senate is ready. Yeah. Yeah, the Senate is ready – is very much, pretty much done.
Congress – Madam Chair, on the manipulation piece of it. That's pretty ready. Ours has a little more to be done in the course of the next week. We have a committee work week next week, and we would hope to have all this done pretty soon.
Q. What might that – would it be beyond the market manipulation?
Speaker Pelosi. Excuse me?
Q. Would it be beyond the market manipulation piece? Would you have provisions that would go beyond the market manipulation language?
Speaker Pelosi. We have the market manipulation bill, and then we will have the Pallone bill which will have other aspects of the exploitation of the worker in that. And he – they're pretty much done, but again, they want to see where the Senate was on there, so that we could be in complement – complementary to all of that.
So again, it's – price gouging is something that people feel very exploited by, and we don't want this to be a – we want it to be as constructive as possible and just set the record straight. We have to transform how people are respected and how – how we respect the workforce that is there in our oil industry, our fossil fuel industry. We are – we're not saying that they're doing anything wrong, but we do think that the management of those companies is.
Anecdotally, people hear these investment calls, and they hear them say why they think they're going to have big profits. It isn't that they're going to have big profits because they're being fair to the consumer. It's because they are not going to be fair to a lot of consumers. And some money from a lot of people make big profits for them to do their buyback, corporate – increase in corporate pay and the rest of that. It's not just confined to the oil industry. The food industry has some of this as well, and we'll deal with that as our Committee is ready because we're trying to be as careful as possible, as focused as possible to make the biggest difference as possible for that kitchen table. That powerful table in our country. That is where people make their decisions about how they're going to – how much they can spend on food, how they can spend on rent, car payments, credit card bills, the education of their children, their own retirement and the rest. That is the heart of the matter for us. And the price of oil has a very big impact on that place.
And if you have a question about the thing, we're working on it. That'll come up soon.
Q. Congressman Levin's resolution, is it going to get any action [inaudible] –
Speaker Pelosi. Well it has to be adjusted, and that's what they're working on. It is – it has just a technicality and –
Q. Congressman Levin said there is no technicality.
Speaker Pelosi. I'm telling you that there is, okay.
[Laughter]
Q. Thank you.
Speaker Pelosi. One technicality. You call this a technicality or not: if the bill would be about the House and the Senate. This – we can only act upon the House. If he doesn't think the Senate was a technicality then okay, but that is the technicality.
Welcome to our – where did he go? He was here, the little boy. How he's gotten tall. There he is. Welcome. Welcome. And any other children to work here today? I thought I saw a little girl in here earlier. She may have gone into other venues, we may have exhausted her interest here. Welcome. Thank you. It's nice to see you, twice as tall as before.