WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dean Heller on Thursday said Republicans are helping to lower gasoline prices by protesting the five-week congressional recess and urging lawmakers to come back and vote on off-shore drilling.
"You've seen oil prices go down -- what is it, $126 a barrel now? I think this debate has everything to do with that," the Carson City Republican said.
President Bush's decision to lift an executive branch moratorium on offshore drilling also helped drive down prices at the pump, Heller said.
Heller interrupted a tour of his congressional district in Nevada to participate in the GOP protest in the House, which began Aug. 1. Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., also planned to return from Nevada by the end of this week.
With the House out of session, the lights in the chamber are dimmed, and there is no C-SPAN coverage.
Still, Republicans are delivering speeches challenging Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to call an emergency session that would include debate and votes on expanding drilling in coastal areas.
Democrats accuse Republicans of showboating after they blocked efforts to pass energy bills before the recess.
Asked whether his return to Washington is a sign he is confident of re-election to a second term, Heller said, "I don't even know how to answer that question. That doesn't have anything to do with this discussion we're having."
As for Democratic charges that the protest is a political stunt, Heller said, "I don't respond to what they say."
David Mason, campaign manager for Jill Derby, the Democrat who is challenging Heller, said the protest is a "smokescreen."
"If Dean Heller really wanted to lower the price of oil, he would have voted to lower the amount of oil in the strategic petroleum reserve, and he would have voted to end out-of-control speculation (on oil markets). He voted against both of those," Mason said.
Heller was the third of five Republicans who made statements to the media before going to the House floor Thursday morning.
Heller read a three-sentence statement from the Nevada Cattlemen's Association that said the energy crisis is making ranching in the state no longer economical.
After the news conference, Heller addressed tourists in the House chamber about the need for a comprehensive energy policy that includes conservation, renewable fuels and additional drilling.
The price of a barrel of oil was $120.21 in early trading Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to The Associated Press. Oil prices had dropped more than $6 over the previous three days before jumping back up on Thursday.
Oil had reached a high of $147 per barrel in July.
The average retail gasoline price early Thursday was $3.849 per gallon, more than 6 percent lower than record highs above $4 a gallon last month, according to pricing sources compiled by AP.
Analysts have said oil prices have been responding to a several factors, including the economic downturn in the United States, the movement of Tropical Storm Edouard in the Gulf of Mexico, tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions and a fire at a oil pipeline in Turkey that supplies Western countries.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Tony Batt at tbatt@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
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