Natural Gas Prices Remarks on Senate Consideration of Price Deregulation.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Sam asked did I have a statement to make this afternoon, and I thought I'd accommodate him.

This week the Senate is voting on natural gas pricing, an issue which directly affects almost 50 million American families who depend on natural gas to heat their homes.

The Congress has been lobbied continuously by the oil and gas industry to deregulate the price of new natural gas. The House has faced this lobbying pressure and has acted both wisely and courageously to protect the integrity of the basic energy policy that I presented to the Congress at the beginning of this year. The Senate is now facing the same challenge. By 1985, the industry proposal will cost the average American family that heats with natural gas an additional $150 per year. It will cost consumers almost $10 billion every year and will produce little, if any, new supplies. Natural gas already discovered in Alaska will cost about $20 billion more if natural gas is completely deregulated, as proposed by the industry.

There comes a time when we must ask how much is enough. Fair treatment and equal sacrifice by every member and segment of our society are fundamental principles of the National Energy Plan submitted by my administration and already passed by the House.

Our proposed price under this plan would give producers strong incentives to explore and to develop new supplies of natural gas through a price which will be six times higher than the price was 5 years ago. That is enough. It's time for the public interest to prevail over special interest lobbyists.

I appreciate very much the leadership which the Senate majority leader, Senator Byrd, is providing on this particular and very important question. And I call on the Senate to act responsibly in the interest of the great majority of Americans to reject narrow, special interest attacks on all segments of the National Energy Plan.

This Nation faces a serious and a growing energy problem. Our balance of trade is very disturbing; it's so high, primarily, because of excessive oil imports. We need to discourage the waste of energy. But the lobbying efforts of oil and gas industries on deregulation itself show how the special interests are trying to block the enactment of the entire energy program.

As we depend more and more on energy imports, the special interests must not be allowed to jeopardize our energy future. We need adequate supplies. We need reasonable prices.

I realize that there have been some preliminary votes in the Senate which cause concern. But I have confidence in the judgment of the Senate and the entire Congress. And I believe that because of the great interest of the American people in this broad question of energy policy and because this is a major domestic issue that we're faced with this year, that I and the American people can continue to have confidence that the outcome of these proposals will be acceptable to me as President and will be a source of gratitude to the House and Senate by the American people when adjournment day comes.

Thank you very much.