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APWASHINGTON - The Senate, in a direct challenge to President Bush, voted Tuesday to temporarily halt the shipment of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the government's emergency reserve.
Both Democrats and Republicans said such shipments make no sense when oil is costing more than $120 a barrel and could better be used to add supplies to a tight market and possibly lower prices.
"We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "When American consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood."
Until both chambers of Congress pass the emergency reserve directive and Bush signs it — or Congress enacts it over a presidential veto — the legislation has no force of law. But the Senate's message to the president Tuesday was a strong one.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_go_co/congress_energy;_
Bush pumps up reserve President Bush is not just rejecting bipartisan calls to lower gas prices by cutting purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — he’s making the reserve bigger and filling it fuller than ever before. Bush has filled the Gulf Coast salt caverns that house the reserve with 703 million barrels, about 97 percent of the reserve’s 727 million-barrel capacity. That’s the most the reserve has ever held, and it’s the largest emergency oil stockpile in the world.
Congress wants to turn off the nozzle, and the House and Senate are each expected to vote Tuesday on bills that would temporarily stop filling the reserve, sometimes referred to as America’s biggest gas tank.
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the GOP’s presumptive flag-bearer in the presidential race, supports the move, as do both Democratic presidential candidates.
Bush has not offered a position on the bills, but opposes the concept of suspending deliveries. He has said that the amount of oil pumped into the reserve, 70,000 barrels a day, is so miniscule compared to global demand that it won’t affect oil prices.
“The president believes that we need an even larger Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday. The White House has stopped short of a veto threat.
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http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-pumps-up-reserve-2008-05-12.htmlBush takes aim at rising gasoline prices
Summer deposits to national oil reserve halted
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling the oil issue a matter of national security, President Bush outlined a plan Tuesday to cut gasoline costs and temporarily stopped deposits to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Bush is delaying this summer's deposits to the reserve -- an emergency stockpile of government-owned crude oil -- as he faces political pressure from campaigning members of Congress and anger from consumers about high gas prices.
"So by deferring deposits until the fall, we'll leave a little more oil on the market," Bush said during a speech in Washington at the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for the ethanol industry. "Every little bit helps." (Watch Bush tout his plan to cut gasoline prices -- 3:29)
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/25/bush.energy/