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   (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

   Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, throughout our summer gas crisis, the Clinton-Gore administration has played possum with the American people. They have claimed that the gas crisis was not caused by a supply issue and blamed oil companies for price gouging. But a recently released internal memorandum obtained from the Department of Energy by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. RYAN) tells a different story.

   The Energy Department memo dated June 5 indicates that ``high consumer demand and low inventories have caused higher prices for all gasoline types.'' The memo also indicates that recently implemented gasoline standards may increase costs. But not 10 days after this memo was drafted, Secretary Browner told more than 30 Midwestern Members of Congress that the gas price hike was inexplicable.

   The Clinton-Gore administration has lost e-mails, lost important files and lost nuclear secrets. Now, we can add the true reason for the energy crisis to the lost list.

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