(Washington, D.C.)–Congressmen Jim Langevin and Patrick Kennedy today voted against H.R. 3893, the Gasoline for America’s Security Act. Instead, both Congressmen supported the Democratic Substitute amendment.

The substitute amendment, sponsored by Democratic Congressmen Bart Stupak of Michigan and Rick Boucher of Virginia, would provide the following:

• Consumer relief through effective anti-price-gouging measures both for gasoline and home heating costs
• Strengthening the nation's refining supply by creating a Strategic Refinery Reserve to ensure new refining capacity that operates at all times and can be increased during emergency supply disruptions.

Republican Congressional leadership has chosen to award the oil and gas industry with a massive giveaway, despite their record profits. Their legislation fails to effectively reduce gas prices or deal with skyrocketing home heating costs, and takes an irresponsible approach to increasing our nation's refining capacity.

“The Republican bill would allow oil and gas companies to drill in some of our nation’s most vulnerable lands and would weaken environmental laws that protect our health and well-being,” said Kennedy. “However, it provides no real penalties for companies that artificially inflate their prices and make record profits at the expense of American consumers.”

When traveling around their districts, both Langevin and Kennedy agree that the high price of gasoline and home heating oil are major constituent worries. While these rising costs hurt low-income residents the most, these impacts are crossing economic lines and hurting all Rhode Islanders – making them think twice about how and where to spend what little discretionary money they have.

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