Mitch Landrieu: “Today the Senate continues a process that began almost 2 years ago. At that time, the Senate Energy Committee held and…”

“Today the Senate continues a process that began almost 2 years ago. At that time, the Senate Energy Committee held and completed the first of several planned mark-up dates with the goal of putting together a comprehensive energy bill. After a number of postponements due to circumstances beyond our control, we engaged in 2 months of debate on the Senate floor last spring and produced a bill by a vote of 88 to 11. Unfortunately, the House and Senate were unable to resolve their differences in a conference so we find ourselves once again tasked with the formidable challenge of developing an energy policy for the Nation. I am pleased to report that after 2 weeks of mark-ups under the leadership of Chairman Domenici and the ranking member, Senator Bingaman, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has lived up to its duty by reporting a comprehensive energy bill to the Senate for consideration. So, the challenge of completing a comprehensive energy bill is once again before the Senate. There are likely to be additional obstacles before us along the way. The question is can we overcome them to complete our duty? It was Woodrow Wilson who once said: The only use of an obstacle is to be overcome. All that an obstacle does with brave men is, not to frighten them, but to challenge them. So the challenge is now before us. This legislation does an excellent job of utilizing the variety of energy options available to the country particularly from a production standpoint.”