Text: HR00007 Text: HR00009 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. ____
1 2 BY QUIRK, FALCK, MERTZ, DOTZLER, HATCH, T. TAYLOR,
1 3 REYNOLDS, SMITH, GREIMANN, LARKIN, WISE, WINCKLER,
1 4 PETERSEN, RICHARDSON, MYERS, HOVERSTEN, ATTEBERRY,
1 5 and KUHN
1 6 A House Resolution requesting the United States
1 7 Congress to hold hearings and investigate possible
1 8 wrongdoings related to the production and sale of
1 9 natural gas.
1 10 WHEREAS, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
1 11 issued Order 380 in 1984, beginning the deregulation
1 12 of pipeline price and access, and completed this
1 13 process by issuing Order 636 in 1992; and
1 14 WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the
1 15 Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 which phased out the
1 16 regulation of natural gas wellhead prices, with total
1 17 deregulation being completed by January 1, 1993; and
1 18 WHEREAS, fifty-three percent of the 101.5 million
1 19 households in the United States currently use natural
1 20 gas for home heating; and
1 21 WHEREAS, eighty-three percent of the 21.6 million
1 22 households in the United States located in the Midwest
1 23 use natural gas for home heating, the highest
1 24 concentration in the nation; and
1 25 WHEREAS, natural gas is used in the production of
1 26 nitrogen fertilizers which Iowa and American farmers
1 27 rely on to maintain crop yields and low household food
1 28 costs; and
1 29 WHEREAS, the average wellhead price for natural gas
1 30 has increased $1.69 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in
2 1 September 1998 to almost $4.00 per Mcf by September
2 2 2000; and
2 3 WHEREAS, Midwest homeowners will pay almost $2.00
2 4 per Mcf more for natural gas this winter as compared
2 5 to last winter; and
2 6 WHEREAS, total United States residential natural
2 7 gas expenditures are expected to reach $8 billion for
2 8 the current month of January 2001; and
2 9 WHEREAS, nitrogen fertilizer producers are shutting
2 10 down production facilities and selling natural gas
2 11 stocks in order to take advantage of current high
2 12 market prices which will lead to nitrogen fertilizer
2 13 shortages and lower crop yields; and
2 14 WHEREAS, demand for natural gas will continue to
2 15 accelerate due to the preference for natural gas
2 16 heating in new home construction and for natural gas-
2 17 fired electric generation by utility companies for new
2 18 power plants coming on line and currently being
2 19 planned; and
2 20 WHEREAS, this continuing increase in demand for
2 21 natural gas will cause prices to continue at much
2 22 higher levels than experienced in recent years; NOW
2 23 THEREFORE,
2 24 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
2 25 That the Iowa House of Representatives urges the
2 26 United States Congress to hold hearings and
2 27 investigate the production and sale of natural gas to
2 28 determine whether producers have cooperated,
2 29 conspired, colluded, or otherwise acted to set or fix
2 30 natural gas prices or whether producers have engaged
3 1 in any other activity which has had the effect of
3 2 restraining the sale of natural gas or of monopolizing
3 3 the natural gas market; and
3 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa House of
3 5 Representatives urges the United States Congress, if
3 6 it should find evidence of wrongdoing, to refer its
3 7 findings to the United States Attorney General for
3 8 prosecution of the acts and for the recovery of
3 9 economic damages on behalf of the people of the United
3 10 States; and
3 11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this
3 12 resolution be sent to the President of the United
3 13 States, the President of the United States Senate, the
3 14 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
3 15 to each member of the Iowa congressional delegation,
3 16 and to the United States Attorney General.
3 17 LSB 2043HH 79
3 18 tm/cls/14
Text: HR00007 Text: HR00009 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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