DeGette Statement On Bush Drilling Plan

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Vice Chair of theCommittee on Energy and Commerce, today released the followingstatement on President Bush's announcement lifting the executive ban ondrilling in protected coastal areas:

"President Bush's plan is flawed and misguided. It will neither reducegas prices nor increase energy independence – two things our countryand the American consumer desperately need.

"If he really wants to provide relief from high gas prices in the shortterm, the President must release a portion of the more than 700 millionbarrels of oil we have put in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It isthe first step in bringing prices down quickly. Longer term, we need towork hard to wean ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil."