Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) called on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the Federal Trade Commission, and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to investigate claims of whether price gouging is responsible for the dramatic increase in gasoline prices.

"While I am pleased that President Bush listened to the request of several members of Congress to increase our oil supply by releasing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we still need to determine whether the oil companies are conducting illegal or unethical business practices during this national economic crisis," said McCarthy.

As gas prices are now more than $4 per gallon on some parts of Long Island, McCarthy cited increasing oil company profits as evidence of possible wrongdoing. For the second quarter of this year alone, ExxonMobil reported profits of $7.64 billion. Despite the sharp rise in the price of crude oil on the world market, profits of this proportion are not new, as twice in 2004, ExxonMobil reported quarterly profits of over $8 billion, surpassing all time records for the company in both cases. Other companies, such as BP and Shell Oil, have also continued to report similar percentage increases in their revenues.

"While working families across America are forced to pay more and more at the pump, I find it interesting that across the board, oil companies are enjoying record profits," said McCarthy.

The congresswoman also questioned whether oil companies are exploiting the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina for an immediate boost in profits, "I fully understand Hurricane Katrina's effect on oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, but our nation's supply of gasoline has not yet been affected by the events of this week. We are still purchasing gasoline produced and refined weeks before the storm ravaged the Gulf's off-shore drilling infrastructure."

McCarthy also stressed that the high cost of gas may soon begin to affect other sectors of the economy. "I fear that as gas prices continue to rise, we will see dramatic increases in the cost of nearly every other consumer good as the cost of transporting goods to the marketplace will skyrocket," McCarthy said. "This crisis may result in record home heating costs this winter as well.

"It is time all levels of government get to the bottom of this crisis. My constituents and I are concerned this has nothing to do with supply and demand, but illegal or unethical business practices," said McCarthy. "The public deserves immediate answers before our economy feels the long-term effects of this crisis."