WASHINGTON—Today, Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) and Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) introduced legislation to crack down on Big Oil’s predatory price hikes at the pump. The Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act would empower the President to issue an Energy Emergency Declaration, making it unlawful to increase gasoline and home energy fuel prices in an excessive or exploitative manner.

“Oil companies are not struggling—they continue to announce record profits and tens of billions dollars’ worth of stock buybacks—but families are,” said Rep. Porter, Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight. “Big Oil is price gouging families because they can. Enough is enough. I'm proud to help introduce this bill that will hold these corporations accountable, stop their abuse, and give families relief.”

Big Oil continues to raise prices at the pump despite sky-high profits. Shell, one of the largest oil companies in the world, yesterday announced a record-breaking $9.1 billion in quarterly profit—an amount nearly triple the $3.2 billion earned a year earlier. Exxon Mobil and Chevron have recently pledged to use their high revenues to enrich shareholders, announcing $30 billion and $10 billion in stock buybacks, respectively, by the end of the year.

“At a time when people in the 8th district and across the country are feeling the pinch at the gas pump, Congress needs to be doing all it can to bring down costs for American families. What’s infuriating is that this is happening at the same time that gas and oil companies are making record profits and taking advantage of international crises to make a profit. This must stop,” said Rep. Schrier. “Gas and oil companies should be held accountable and should not be making the situation worse by gouging Americans at the pump. This bill needs to be passed and signed into law as soon as possible.”

Congresswoman Porter has consistently fought to hold Big Oil accountable for exploiting families and taxpayers. In March, she helped spearhead legislation, the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, that would crack down on profiteering at the pump and use the revenue to provide relief to families. She’s introduced a bill, the Ending Taxpayer Welfare for Oil and Gas Companies Act, to raise fees on polluters extracting from public lands. Porter has also confronted Big Oil executives, including the CEOs of BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Chevron, directly about the industry’s predatory behavior.

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