Efforts by House Democrats to pass legislation enabling the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price gouging by oil companies is drawing criticism from at least two Texas Democrats.

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, told a reporter Tuesday despite the rise in gasoline prices he was not convinced there was actually any price gouging by going on, despite claims by his Democratic colleagues to the contrary. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston, plans to vote against the bill but had no further comment, a spokeswoman said.

Last week Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., and Kim Schrier, D-Wash., introduced the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would give the president authority to declare an energy emergency, prohibiting the sale of gasoline and other fuels at "unconscionably excessive" prices.

Any company violating the declaration would be subject to enforcement action by the FTC, with a focus on U.S. companies that sell more than $500 million worth of fuel per year. Democratic leaders have scheduled a debate on the bill for Thursday.

"Across the country (people) are feeling the pinch at the gas pump," Schrier said. "What’s infuriating is that this is happening at the same time that gas and oil companies are making record profits and taking advantage of international crises to make a profit. This must stop."

Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Houston, is supporting the legislation, a spokeswoman said. Other Texas House Democrats in the Houston area did not respond to a request for comment on the bill. Republicans have been unified against the legislation.

Over the past six months average gasoline prices have risen more than 30 percent to $4.49 per gallon last week, drawing ire from motorists already suffering under historic levels of inflation.

Financial analysts have pegged the fuel price spike to a combination of a surge in economic activity following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, a fall off in oil drilling during the pandemic and fears the Russian invasion of Ukraine will hurt cut into supplies from the region.

But a number of Democrats see something more nefarious at the hands of oil companies, questioning why gasoline prices often do not come down as quickly as they rise.

"If the price of gas is driven by the global market, why are fuel prices still at record highs? Something doesn’t add up," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said at a hearing last month,, when oil prices had dropped but gasoline prices remained high.

Oil companies have defended the phenomenon as a product of market dynamics, but at a time Exxon Mobil has seen their profits double to more than $5 billion they have met with little success.

At the April hearing, David Lawler, president of BP America, the U.S. subsidiary of the British oil major, attempted to explain that gasoline stations try to cover the costs they paid for fuel and hedge against the risk that oil prices could quickly rise again, resulting in a lag between gasoline and crude prices.

“It’s a very complex set of factors that impact the price of gasoline,” Lawler said.