Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats Continued Work To Lower Costs With Today’s Commerce Committee Hearing On Oil Market Price Transparency

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding Senate Democrats’ continued efforts to lower prices for the American people, including today’s Commerce Committee hearing on transparency in petroleum markets. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I want to close by thanking my friend and colleague, Chairwoman Cantwell, for holding a hearing in the Commerce Committee that is of great importance to the American people: Ensuring Transparency in Petroleum Markets. That hearing will occur today.

The American people right now find themselves on the losing side of a truly disturbing trend: on the one hand the American people are paying more and more at the pump, and the other some of the nation’s biggest oil companies are reporting soaring profits, but then using those profits to reward shareholders with stock buybacks.

This is infuriating. Prices go way up, oil companies make more profit, and what do they use it for? Stock buybacks which do nothing to improve the economy, workers, or help the consumer!

This is outrageous, and one of the reasons there is such mistrust of the big oil companies. So, I am glad that the commerce committee is looking into this important issue, and I've urged the FTC to likewise take note.

I thank Chair Cantwell for her work, and I expect that we will see additional announcements on this matter very soon.

This caucus, this Democratic Caucus, is going to keep its eye and do whatever we can to help with bringing down the outrageously high price of oil and the outrageous actions of corporate executives in the oil industry.

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