Wicker for Senate

Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said he has the plan to bring down prices at the gas pumps.

Whether that plan will ever be considered will be up to a Democrat-controlled Congress.

Wicker appeared Wednesday afternoon at the Reedy Creek Oilfield in the Sharon community in Jones County to express his frustration that the bill he co-authored with fellow Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran - Gas Price Reduction Act - never was brought up for discussion since being introduced in June.

"When the American people speak up, the elected leadership should follow," Wicker said. "I think that if the Democratic leadership in Washington, (Senate) Leader Harry Reid and (House) Speaker Nancy Pelosi, would simply let this legislation come to a vote, I think a majority of the House and the Senate would support (it) ... The question is, and I don't know the answer any more than you do, will Harry Reid let this come to a vote?"

So far, the answer has been a steadfast no, and Congress has recessed for five weeks.

Wicker, a former Congressman who was appointed by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to finish out the term of former Sen. Trent Lott, will face former Mississippi Democratic governor Ronnie Musgrove for that Senate seat in November.

Wicker has made energy production, particularly as related to the nation's dependence on foreign oil and the sky-rocketing cost of gas, one of his central election planks.

The act he and Cochran co-authored would open up more offshore drilling, delve into oil shale deposits in the West, encourage development of affordable alternative energy sources and crackdown on oil speculators.

"The people of Mississippi and the United States are demanding action from Congress," Wicker said. "(This) act will reduce prices at the pump and reduce our dependence on foreign oil."