Clinton Defends His Decision to Tap Oil Reserve

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 25 -- President Bill Clinton is defending his decision to tap the nation’s emergency oil reserve as “the right thing to do” to try to increase supply and reduce prices before winter.

“Families shouldn’t have to drain their wallets to drive theircars or heat their homes,” he said Saturday at the White House beforedeparting on a political trip to California.

The administration announced Friday that 30 millionbarrels of the government’s petroleum stockpile would be put onto the market over a 30-day period beginning today.

Clinton also said that $400 million in federal aid would be made available“to help families that can least bear the burden of high energyprices.” He said it was the largest such release of federal aid to date.

Heating oil inventories nationwide are more than 20 percent lowernow than they were at this time in 1999, Clinton said. Inventoriesare down 50 percent on the East Coast and more than 60 percent inNew England, raising doubts about adequate supplies in the comingmonths.

In addition to the millions in energy assistance, Clintonsaid he was taking other steps to ensure that heating oil is“available and affordable for our families.” Among them:

Asking the Environmental Protection Agency to help statesidentify ways to use more and different kinds of heating oil in aneffort to further build inventories. Directing federal agencies to make early contractualcommitments to purchase heating oil throughout the winter. This isintended to give wholesalers “the confidence to build inventoriesin advance.”

Asking state public utility commissions to make surefactories and businesses that use heating oil as a backup keepadequate reserves.

Clinton also criticized the the GOP leadership on Capitol Hill for failing to act on his energy proposals. “Too many critical elements of our energy strategy have been chop-blocked or ignored by the Republican majority in Congress,” he said.