Hagan: Finish report on gas price fraud before July 4

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) urged a working group formed by the Obama administration to investigate oil and gas price fraud to issue its findings to Congress before the July 4 recess.

“[T]o ensure that Congress can enact any necessary legislative remedies to combat market manipulation, I strongly urge the working group to provide a report of its findings and any recommended legislative actions to Congress prior to the July 4 holiday, when many Americans get on the road,” Hagan said in a letter Thursday to White House Chief of Staff William Daley.

Earlier this month the Justice Department launched an “Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group” charged with monitoring “oil and gas markets for potential violations of criminal or civil laws to safeguard against unlawful consumer harm.”

The working group comes as President Obama is under increasing pressure to take action to address rising gas prices even though U.S. policymakers can do very little to lower prices at the pump.

Hagan called on the working group to consider the effect of gas prices on seniors, military families and veterans.

“From the restaurant owner facing rising food prices to the local trucking company and farmer who are struggling to keep up with increasing fuel costs, small businesses across North Carolina are feeling the pinch,” Hagan said in the letter.