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The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3822) to reduce, suspend, or terminate any assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act to each country determined by the President to be engaged in oil price fixing to the detriment of the United States economy, and for other purposes:

• Mr. SALMON. Mr. Chairman, it is well known that, for close to a year, countries from the OPEC cartel and other oil-producing countries have conspired to steal from Americans by artificially inflating the price of oil. It has had a dramatic effect on the life of every American and threatens the state of our economy. It takes more to fill our gas tanks, it is more costly to fly, and even grocery prices have risen significantly. For example, we pay an extra $10 every time we go to a gas station to fill our tanks. This year, increased gas and oil prices will cost the average family an alarming $700. In my home state of Arizona, higher gas prices will cost the Paradise Valley Union School District up to $60,000 more to bus kids to and from school this year.

• Unfortunately, the President's response has been tepid at best. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson recently admitted, ``it is obvious that the federal government was not prepared. We were caught napping. We got complacent.'' The Administration, which seems to have no problem attacking American companies they suspect of being a monopoly, refuses to use its current legal arsenal to sanction foreign countries that collude in monopolistic alliances to fleece the American people.

• Last year, I requested that Congress look into OPEC's price fixing scheme. And last night, Congress took a small step towards helping American consumers by passing H.R. 3822, which encourages the President to use his current authority to stop OPEC from inflating gas prices. But, I believe we can, indeed we must, do more.

• First and foremost we should have included a mechanism in this legislation to penalize countries for gouging our constituents. Secondly, we should have repealed the 4.3 cent gas tax that President Clinton and Vice-President GORE included in their tax increase package of 1993. And finally, we should have examined cost effective ways to increase domestic oil production.

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• Looking forward, we need to pursue the development of alternative energy sources that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil. To that end, we should support tax credits for people who purchase environmentally friendly, energy efficient solar heating equipment. We should also support funding for research on solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, and other environmentally friendly alternative forms of energy.

• Perhaps we will revisit this matter when our constituents are paying $2.50 for a gallon of gas. H.R. 3822 is a first step towards resolving the current crisis. But, Congress should have done more. Americans should not have to pay more at the gas pump, or for groceries, or to heat their homes, simply because we did not do enough to stop foreign nations from artificially increasing the price of oil. We've been far too passive for too long.

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