Bush Delivers Remarks on Energy

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Good morning.

I want to thank Secretary Kempthorne and Secretary Bodman for joining me here.

For many Americans, there is no more pressing concern than the price of gasoline. Truckers and farmers, small-business owners have been hit especially hard. Every American who drives to work, purchases food or ships a product has felt the effect, and families across the country are looking to Washington for a response.

High oil prices are at the root of high gasoline prices. Behind those prices is the basic law of supply and demand. In recent years, the world's demand for oil has grown dramatically. Meanwhile, the supply of oil has grown much more slowly. As a result, oil prices have risen sharply and that increase has been reflected at American gasoline pumps.

Now much of the oil consumed in America comes from abroad. That's what's changed dramatically over the last couple of decades.

Some of that energy comes from unstable regions and unfriendly regimes. This makes us more vulnerable to supply shocks and price spikes beyond our control, and that puts both our economy and our security at risk.