Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the Need for Real Energy Solutions April 25, 2006 While I agree with the President’s call for investigations into possible price gouging, stronger action is required, such as passage of the Energy Emergency Consumer Protection Act, a federal price gouging statute introduced last September that I supported, and serious investigations of consolidation in the oil industry. With Americans being squeezed by out-of-control gas prices, the administration must get tough with big oil, and get serious about moving forward with real energy solutions. We have to get at the root cause of these high gas prices – what the President has called our nation’s addiction to oil. It poses a significant threat to our economy, our national security, and our environment and it is past time that we came to grips with it and rid ourselves of that addiction by developing an energy policy that brings us into the 21st century.

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