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Oklahoma Senate
Senator Corn Playing Politics With Fuel Prices
Senator Glenn Coffee
Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said Tuesday that Senator Kenneth Corn has joined liberal national Democrats in an effort to politicize rising fuel prices – and said Corn tried using a make-believe Senate vote on the issue in an effort to score partisan political points.
Corn issued a partisan news release Tuesday calling on President George W. Bush and Congress to address rising fuel prices.
In the first version of his release, Corn falsely claimed in his news release that during the last legislative session Senate Republicans opposed a resolution he authored asking Congress and President Bush to provide relief to rising gasoline prices. In fact, no such resolution was introduced by Corn – let alone voted on by the Senate. Corn later revised the news release, removing his false reference to a Senate vote on the issue.
“National Democrats may be able to get away with playing fast and loose with the truth – but here in Oklahoma we want our elected officials to tell the truth. Sen. Corn owes State Senate Republicans an apology for trying to use a non-existent, make-believe vote in his lust to score political points,” Coffee said.
“Every Oklahoman is feeling the pinch of rising fuel prices. This is not a partisan issue. If Sen. Corn wants to be effective in reducing gasoline prices, perhaps he should contact his fellow Democrats in the U.S. Congress and urge them to end their opposition to more domestic oil and gas drilling to ease gas prices and help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” Coffee said.
Two resolutions were filed during the legislative calling on Congress to investigate high fuel prices, but neither were authored or co-authored by Corn and neither received a vote on the Senate floor. SR 17 by Sen. Daisy Lawler was reported Do Pass by the Senate Energy and Environment Committee on April 21, but it was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote. HR 1015 by Rep. Jerry Shoemake was assigned to the House Rules Committee and did not receive a hearing.
