(Host) Congressman Peter Welch’s plan to suspend shipments to the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve is generating strong support in Congress.
The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to back the plan and the U.S House is set to consider it.
Supporters of the bill say the legislation could help reduce the cost of gasoline by between 5 and 20 cents a gallon.
VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports:
(Kinzel) When Welch first introduced his bill in the middle of February, it generated moderate support among other House Democrats.
But in the last 3 weeks, as gas prices have skyrocketed, the proposal has developed strong bi-partisan support and has even been included in the Congressional Republican energy plan.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in the mid 1970s after the Arab oil embargo, to ensure that the country would have a stable supply of oil in the future.
Speaking on the House floor, Welch said the plan would help reduce prices because it would leave more oil available to the consumer market.
(Welch) "The question that we have before us today is whether or not taking a small step that in the past has been taken by this President Bush, by his father, by President Clinton, that when it has been taken has proven to actually have a direct and immediate impact on lowering the price of gas at the pump from 5 cents to 25 cents a gallon."
(Kinzel) But Texas Representative Joe Barton argued that the bill would have little or no impact on gas prices because oil shipments to the Reserve are so small.
(Barton) "I think we would have as much impact on prices, if that’s our goal, if all the members of both sides of the aisle went out on the steps of the Capitol and we all clapped our hands three times and said, `Down prices, down prices, down prices.’ That would probably have as much impact as passing this bill."
(Kinzel) Welch disputed that allegation. He said the experience of the past 20 years clearly shows that suspending shipments does lower the price of gas.
(Welch) "You know we could go out and clap. But I actually think this will be more effective, that when we’ve done it in the past it’s actually reduced that pump price."
(Kinzel) Joe Choquette is the director of the Vermont Petroleum Association. He thinks the bill could have a beneficial short term impact:
(Choquette) "It certainly sends a message that the U.S. Congress is willing to do some things that will address the high cost of fuel. So it could have an emotional impact on the marketplace."
But Choquette says the best long term policy is the development of additional domestic supplies of oil.
(Choquette) "As everybody knows, a great deal of the resources in the United States are off limits to exploration and production."
President Bush is opposed to the legislation. It’s not clear if backers of the bill have enough votes to override a possible presidential veto.
For VPR News I’m Bob Kinzel in Montpelier.