Kerry Backed Effort to Stop Cheney Gas Price Hike; Kerry Opposed Plan That Would Have Raised Gas Prices and Cut 400,000 Jobs

4/6/2004

-- In October 1986, Cheney introduced legislation to create a new import tax that would have increased the price of oil and ultimately the price of gasoline by billions of dollars per year. On the House floor Cheney said "let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low oil prices are somehow good for the United States." (Energy Security Policy Act of 1986, H.R.5667, introduced 10/9/86, 99th Congress 2nd Session, 132 Cong Rec E 1350, Vol. 132, No. 139; Inside Energy/with Federal Lands, 10/13/86) Cheney Bill would Cost Consumers $1.2 Trillion

-- The Congressional Research Service, in coordination with staffers from the Senate Energy Committee, studied the effects of Cheney's bill on consumers. The report states that if Cheney's plan had been enacted in 1986 it would have cost consumers $1.2 trillion. (New York Times, 4/6/04) Bill Would Have Led to Loss of 400,000 jobs

-- Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania, a Republican, said in February 1987 that the proposals would add $1.3 billion per year to the energy costs of Pennsylvania consumers. He also cited a study done for a Federal Reserve Bank suggesting that a $5 per barrel fee would lead to the loss of 400,000 jobs nationwide and cause inflation to soar. (New York Times, 4/5/04; S.RES.97, introduced 02/03/87) Kerry and 15 Senators from Both Parties Joined in Opposition to Cheney's Bill

-- On February 3rd, 1987, John Kerry and 15 Senators cosponsored a resolution in opposition to import fees and taxes on oil, including Republican Senators John Heinz and Alphonse D'Amato. Senator Pell said that "the truth is that an oil import fee is not a good idea and would certainly not be painless for consumers. An oil import fee would impose heavy new costs on all who use oil and oil products in manufacturing and production. It would also impose higher costs on all who heat their homes with oil or use oil-generated electricity. In addition, by increasing the production costs of energy and raw materials, an oil import fee would make American manufacturers far less competitive in world markets-a situation certainly not tolerable with today's current trade imbalance. (S.RES.97, introduced, 2/3/87; 100th Congress 1st Session, Congressional Record Vol. 133 No. 16, S 1624) Bush-Cheney Campaign Refuse to Acknowledge Cheney's Call for Higher Taxes

-- When asked about Cheney's bill to increase oil taxes, Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said that "President Bush and Vice President Cheney want to keep taxes low and keep the economy moving. They have proposed an energy plan that will provide for a stable, affordable and secure energy supply."

-- While the Bush-Cheney campaign failed to acknowledge the higher tax and gas prices as a result of Cheney's bill, Cheney's office refused to comment about the bill. (New York Times, 4/5/04)