Bush Ending Strategic Petroleum Purchases
President Bush still thinks a bill forcing his administration to temporarily stop buying oil for the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a bad idea, but he’ll sign it anyway.
“The president is not going to stand in their way on this bill,” said deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel.
The Senate last week voted 97-1 and the House 385-25 for the legislation.
Earlier, the White House had vowed to veto such a measure.
“He remains against it,” Stanzel said. So why is he signing it? “I think he saw the overwhelming numbers of members of Congress who want to attempt to have an impact on prices by stopping the fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
Sponsors of the bill hope the move will help lower energy prices. But the administration says the amount of oil involved — about 76,000 barrels a day — is relatively small and will not affect gas prices.
