WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is requesting President Joe Biden directs Attorney General Merrick Garland to establish and chair a Gasoline Price Gouging Enforcement Task Force to carefully monitor and investigate oil and gas markets for potential violations of criminal or civil laws, including gasoline price gouging, that inflict financial harm on hard-working American families at the pump and result in higher prices for all, as businesses pass on higher operating costs to customers.
In part, Duckworth wrote: “Whether from price manipulation or fraud in the commodities market, the United States Government must prioritize protecting American consumers from suffering financial harm as a result of oil and gas executives taking advantage of a deadly global pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s unjustified and unlawful brutal war of aggression against Ukraine to increase corporate profits on the backs of consumers. Establishing a task force consisting of Federal law enforcement and regulators will send a strong message to the oil and gas industry that a cop is on the beat and ready to crack down on any firms charging excessive gasoline prices at the pump, or gouging businesses that rely on reasonable fuel prices to conduct operations and make payroll.”
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The Gasoline Price Gouging Enforcement Task Force would be led by the U.S. Department of Justice and comprised of subject matter experts from the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy and representatives from the National Association of Attorneys General. In addition to preventing or investigating gasoline price gouging, the Gasoline Price Gouging Enforcement Task Force would provide Congress with legislative proposals to strengthen consumer protection and competition laws to better empower federal and state regulatory and law enforcement officials to crack down on oil and gas corporate executives that engage in collusion, fraud or misrepresentation at wholesale or retail levels.
Full text of the letter is available here and below.
Dear President Biden:
I write to request that you task the Attorney General of the United States to establish and chair a Gasoline Price Gouging Enforcement Task Force to carefully monitor and investigate oil and gas markets for potential violations of criminal or civil laws, including gasoline price gouging, that inflict financial harm on hard-working American families at the pump and result in higher prices for all, as companies pass on higher operating costs to customers.
Whether from price manipulation or fraud in the commodities market, the United States Government must prioritize protecting American consumers from suffering financial harm as a result of oil and gas executives taking advantage of a deadly global pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s unjustified and unlawful brutal war of aggression against Ukraine to increase corporate profits on the backs of consumers. Establishing a task force consisting of Federal law enforcement and regulators will send a strong message to the oil and gas industry that a cop is on the beat and ready to crack down on any firms charging excessive gasoline prices at the pump, or gouging businesses that rely on reasonable fuel prices to conduct operations and make payroll.
Similar to the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group established in April 2011, this U.S. Department of Justice-led entity should be comprised of officials and expert civil servants from the Federal Trade Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Departments of the Treasury, Agriculture and Energy. Representatives from the National Association of Attorneys General should also participate in the task force, since certain State Attorneys General are requesting consumers report potential gasoline price gouging practices.
Finally, I ask that you direct the Gasoline Price Gouging Enforcement Task Force to provide Congress with recommendations on how to enhance statutory authority to empower Federal and State regulatory and law enforcement agencies to prevent and stop predatory gasoline pricing practices, while holding greedy oil and gas corporate executives accountable for engaging in collusion, fraud or misrepresentations at the retail or wholesale levels.
Sincerely,
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