Dan Abendschein, Staff Reporter

Rep. David Dreier challenged the Democratic leadership to find solutions to high gas prices on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The San Dimas Republican said in an interview that he called for a vote on a measure for House members to discuss and vote on energy proposals from any representative. The measure was voted down along party lines, with Democrats voting against it, he said.

“Two years ago Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi said she had a `common sense plan’ for reducing gasoline prices,” said Dreier. “We’re still waiting to hear it.”

Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said that voting to open the floor for proposals is often a technique to try to gain political advantage.  “When you are the minority party, you have very little impact on what legislation comes to the floor,” said Pitney. “That means you have to resort to procedural votes to make it look like the other party is trying to silence debate on an issue.”

On Tuesday, the Republican leadership, including Dreier, who is the ranking Republican on the House Rules committee, sent a letter to Pelosi asking for action on gas prices.  Dreier said the group would like to see increased oil exploration, new oil refineries, and coal liquefaction to expand U.S. energy sources.

Though both Pelosi and the Republican leaders expressed their desire to work with each other on the issue, the price of gas continues to rise. According to government figures, a gallon of gas in California costs an average of $3.85, up 53 cents a gallon from this time last year.