Following the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, $3 per gallon gasoline became common and our nation has come under considerable strain.

In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, our nation has been put under considerable fiscal pressure.

This shift has been especially prominent in (the) last four months as September's hurricanes and $3-per-gallon gasoline served as a turning point in consumer preference.

September's hurricanes and $3-a-gallon gasoline served as a turning point in consumer preference. If this trend continues in '06, the Big Three, which rely heavily on light trucks for the majority of their sales, could experience accelerated market share losses.

As the cost of gasoline rises and our dependence on foreign oil continues to increase, the effect of sending over $100 billion each year to OPEC nations hurts every American.

The United States' gasoline industry, as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated, is remarkably fragile. And the process of how oil is pumped from the ground, turned into gasoline and distributed to consumers is complicated.