WASHINGTON, DC – Following President Bush’s removal of the Executive Moratorium on offshore energy exploration, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today urged Congress to act immediately to reduce gas prices for consumers.

"New offshore oil and gas exploration is now only one step away from becoming reality. Kansans have been calling for increased production as a way to help lower prices, and we ought to approve legislation allowing drilling to increase our domestic supply of energy. Congress should immediately start debate on a comprehensive energy strategy for the nation."

Senator Roberts is a cosponsor of the Gas Price Reduction Act, which would tap as much as fourteen billion barrels of oil along the Atlantic and Pacific - more than all U.S. imports from Persian Gulf countries over the last 15 years. The legislation would also open up three times the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia through western state oil shale exploration. The bill encourages alternative sources of energy including plug in electric vehicles through the development of better batteries to maximize electricity range and use less gas.

The bill has 44 cosponsors. Senator Roberts has urged the Majority Leader to take up debate on the legislation.

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