Senators ask FTC to monitor gas prices

www.gogreenbay.com By Noelle Straub News-Chronicle

WASHINGTON - Recent surges in the price of gasoline in parts of the Midwest prompted Sens. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, to send a letter to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission urging careful monitoring of the situation.

While acknowledging that the causes of the increase are as yet unknown, the senators wrote that "it is critically important to ensure that they are not caused by price-fixing or price gouging by oil companies, gas stations or others within the gasoline supply chain."

The letter cited Milwaukee as an example, where the price of regular unleaded gasoline rose to an average of $1.76 per gallon last week, an increase of more than 25 cents per gallon over the last month.

Gas prices have jumped to more than $2 a gallon in some areas of the country.

Experts say the rising gas prices around the nation are due to the looming threat of war with Iraq, strikes by oil workers in Venezuela and Nigeria, and low stockpiles of crude oil in the United States.

But the Midwest has experienced spikes in gas prices the past two springs.

In May of 2001 nearly the entire Wisconsin congressional delegation sent a letter to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency and met with EPA Chief Christine Todd Whitman to discuss the problem.

DeWine and Kohl, the chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, said they hope their letter will prompt the FTC to monitor the issue closely this year.

Republicans unveil session agenda Congress did not meet last week because of the Presidents' Day recess. But just before leaving town, the Senate Republican leadership unveiled their legislative agenda for the rest of the session.

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced that a tax cut package, Medicare reform with a prescription drug benefit for seniors and educational reforms topped the list of priorities.

GOP leaders also vowed to bring up legislation to encourage energy development, ban what opponents call partial birth abortions, limit medical malpractice awards, address the global AIDS crisis and enact stricter work requirements for welfare recipients.

Some bills, like funding to combat AIDS, are expected to pass quickly. But Republicans will face fierce resistance from Democrats on some issues, like drilling for oil in the arctic, while divisions remain within the GOP ranks over the exact details of several of the measures.

Senate Democrats announced their top 12 bills on Jan. 7, the first day of the session.

The top three are a homeland security act focused on first responders, rail and port security and chemical security, among other items; a Medicare prescription drug benefit; and a call to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act.

Democrats' other priorities include pension protection, a global climate bill and a minimum wage increase.

Republicans delayed introducing their priorities until after President Bush gave his State of the Union address on Jan. 28. Frist also needed time to develop his agenda, having taken over the title of majority leader from Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., just before Christmas.

The Senate returns to work this week, but before it can move to any of these measures, a fight over one of Bush's judicial nominees must first be resolved.

That issue has tied up the Senate for more than a week, and may be a preview of the contentious battles to come in the remainder of the session.