Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today voted for the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act which will lower costs by preventing oil companies from raising prices in an excessive or exploitative way. Congressman Cohen noted that the top five oil companies have announced profits of $35 billion in the past three months.
The vote on passage was 217 to 207.
Congressman Cohen made the following statement:
“It is unacceptable that oil companies are using supply chain disruptions caused by Putin’s war in Ukraine to raise prices on American consumers. Many are also choosing to proceed with stock buybacks and dividend payments Oil companies are choosing profits over increasing production. This commonsense legislation gives the President the authority to issue an Energy Emergency Proclamation and make it illegal to increase fuel and home energy prices in an exploitative manner and empowers the Federal Trade Commission to penalize price-gouging.”
The legislation would establish the first federal law against price gouging by oil and gas companies. The FTC would be given the authority to seek civil penalties against both wholesale and retail sellers of consumer fuels who raise their prices to unconscionably excessive levels during an energy emergency declared by the President. Fines collected by the Federal Trade Commission under this bill would be put into a consumer relief fund, which could then be used to provide assistance under the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or the Weatherization Assistance Program.
Original source can be found here.
