Congressional Democrats are proposing a new tax on large oil companies designed to “curb profiteering” by redirecting profits associated with higher crude oil prices to back drivers.

The Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and co-sponsored by 11 other Democratic senators on Thursday, would collect a portion of the profits companies are currently yielding with oil at its highest premium in more than a decade and return it to consumers as quarterly rebates.