RESOLUTION TO REMOVE IRAQ FROM O.P.E.C.

     Whereas the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is a cartel with the purpose of
maximizing the price of wholesale petroleum to the world markets,

     Whereas the countries of O.P.E.C. are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, all of which have traditions of
authoritarian regimes with little regard for individual rights,

     Whereas the retail price of gasoline in the United States at the end of 2001 was under
$1 per gallon, has ranged over $2 per gallon over the past three years, and currently stands at
approximately $1.75 per gallon—a 75% increase over the 2001 level,

     Whereas these price increases for petroleum came about primarily due to the successful
efforts of O.P.E.C. to limit oil production in the face of steady worldwide demand, and the
O.P.E.C. members have been able to derive tens of billions of dollars of windfall cartel profits
from the publics of the United States and the rest of the world,

     Whereas for the American public these drains of tens of billions of dollars have put a
counterproductive drag on the economy for individuals, companies, and governments at all levels,

     Whereas American individuals have lost billions of dollars in higher gasoline and other fuel
prices and have suffered a consequential lowering of their standards of living,

     Whereas American businesses have suffered billions of dollars of extra costs, not all of which
can be passed on to customers;  for example, fuel costs are the largest costs for oil-fired
electrical production and long haul trucking (gasoline costs more than the driver), the second
largest costs (after personnel) for the airline, train, bus, and ocean shipping industries, and
significant costs for virtually all other industries,

     Whereas every government agency consumes fuel resulting in tens of billions of dollars of
extra taxes imposed on individuals and business to pay for these excessive costs rather than to
be applied to more productive purposes; for example,

               ---at the federal government level, the Navy, Air Force, and Army along with
                   hundreds of civilian agencies use vast amounts of fuel daily

               ---at the state government level, fleets of cars, trucks, airplanes and helicopters
                   along with heating hundreds of office buildings use millions of gallons daily

   ---at the local city, county, and school district level, the thousands of patrol cars,
                   transit buses, school buses, and work trucks along with heating fuel and
                   petroleum-fired electric plants use millions of gallons daily, and

     Whereas high petroleum prices do not provide windfall profits for American refiners,
brokers, or dealers,

     Whereas American law outlaws monopolies, restraints of trade, cartels, and other
measures under a long line of anti-trust acts, and the U. S. and other governments should not
engage in any of these practices against the public interest,

     Whereas by virtue of militarily occupying the country of Iraq, the U. S. government has
become a de facto member of O.P.E.C. through the Coalition Provisional Authority of the
U. S. Department of Defense, and has no significant obstacles to directing any actions of Iraq
on this or any other matter of civil governance,

     Whereas the removal of Iraq from O.P.E.C. would result in major benefits to the Iraqi
public in lower retail petroleum prices and in transitioning from an authoritarian economy to a
free enterprise economy under the U. S. government occupation, and

    Whereas the American public taxpayer has expended $150 billion in the Iraq
invasion/occupation so far and will expend another $100 billion in the coming year,

     Therefore be it resolved by ________________________________________

     1.  to urge President George W. Bush to direct that the U. S. government stop all participation
in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,

     2.  to urge President George W. Bush to implement free economic principles in Iraq,
including the maximization of production of oil such that the prices for Americans, Iraqis and
others can be minimized,

     3.  to urge Congress to exercise oversight on U.S. government’s participation in, and removal  from,
O.P.E.C., and to draft any necessary legislation to facilitate this removal,  and

     4.  to urge Congress to draft any necessary legislation to ensure that free economic principles
be adopted in the proposed Iraqi Constitution, including the outlawing of monopolies, restraints
of trade, and cartels.