Conyers to convene hearing on gas prices; Clinton rips oil companies
 The House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force will convene a hearing on rising gasoline prices and the state of the oil industry on Wednesday, April 16.
"Competition has served our nation well over the years," said Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) at a press conference. "I believe competition and the antitrust laws, if enforced, can help bring prices down at the pump as well."
Conyers said that with gasoline prices expected to reach record highs during the upcoming summer driving season, he aims to answer the question on many Americans' minds: "How did we get into this mess?"
The Antitrust Task Force will focus on three issues of concern in the oil industry, said Conyers: consolidation, oil cartels, and lack of production.
On Wednesday, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton demanded a probe into recent maintenance closures of several US refineries and questioned whether oil firms were guilty of price gouging.
"Consumers simply cannot continue to absorb the crippling cost of these rising gas prices," Clinton said.
"I am very concerned that oil companies are not being held responsible for their own infrastructure and are being allowed to pass shortages onto customers at the pump."
Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid hit out at high prices and huge oil firms on Tuesday.
"Every year, about this time, a refinery goes down for repairs. Is that coincidental?" he asked.
"Or is it part of a plan that these multinational, huge companies who are making obscene profits in the tens of billions of dollars -- is this part of their game to keep the profits going."
When George W. Bush took power in 2001, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $1.47, while today the average has surged past $3/gallon.
On Monday, another Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, slammed US auto makers for their drive to build faster and bigger cars rather than focusing on energy efficiency. Obama unveiled a plan to encourage the development of more fuel-efficient cars.
With wire services.
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