mr. chairman , i rise in opposition to h.r. 6 , the energy policy act .  h.r. 6 is a continuation of the disastrous energy policy that the republican leadership has been trying to force through congress for the past four years .  they claim that their bill will reduce the cost of a gallon of gasoline -- which now averages $ 2.24 per gallon -- and that it will reduce our reliance on foreign oil .  unfortunately , both of these claims are false .  in fact , enactment of h.r. 6 is likely to result in higher prices at the pump for americans .  even the department of energy estimates the price of a gallon of gasoline will increase by three cents if this bill is signed into law .  mr. chairman , h.r. 6 is a massive give-away to oil and gas companies .  it provides $ 7.5 billion in tax breaks and billions more in royalty relief to companies like exxon , mobil , chevron , texaco and conocophillips , which are already earning record profits , supposedly to encourage these companies to drill more on our public lands and produce more gasoline and oil .  as the president noted the other day , with the price of oil at $ 55 per barrel , these companies do not need any more encouragement to produce gasoline and oil .  the bill also permits drilling in the artic refuge thereby putting at risk one of the last pristine areas in the world , simply to gain less than six months ' worth of oil .  opening anwr does not make economic or environmental sense and we should not allow it to happen .  instead , we should be increasing the corporate average fuel economy ( cafe ) standards for cars and trucks sold in the united states to a more reasonable level .  taking this step would save millions more gallons of gasoline than would be recovered from anwr , and raising these standards would help improve the quality of air that we breathe .  this bill also weakens our nation 's environmental laws including the clean air act .  mr. chairman , los angeles is consistently ranked among the worst cities in america when it comes to air pollution and smog .  yet , if congress allows this bill to pass , the clean air act will be severely weakened and thousands of my constituents will see their health suffer because of the increased pollution and smog .  we should be supporting a bill that strengthens the clean air act , not weakening it .  mr. chairman , i am also very disappointed in the fact that this bill does nothing to address the massive defrauding of californian consumers at the hands of enron and other energy companies during the energy crisis of 2000 and 2001 .  during that time , energy companies intentionally took generators off line , made false submissions about the prices they bought and sold gas for , and fabricated transactions , all with the intention to make as much money as possible .  unfortunately , for thousands of californians , the energy companies succeeded in their efforts .  in the summer of 2000 , energy companies overcharged california $ 2.5 billion .  in 2001 , california paid approximately $ 26 billion for electricity because of the unscrupulous trading practices of the energy companies , raising the rates of every california ratepayer .  mr. chairman , the federal energy regulatory commission has already ruled that the prices the energy companies charged california were not `just and reasonable ' as required by law .  yet the companies have not had to pay any penalty for their criminal actions .  this bill does nothing to change that , but it should .  mr. chairman , the american people need us to enact legislation that will actually reduce the cost of gasoline and reduce our dependence on foreign oil .  they want us to support a bill that makes real investments in renewable energy and energy conservation .  i urge my colleagues to reject this special-interest legislation that puts big business before american consumers .  