Pete Domenici: “Mr. President, I said yesterday to a large group of Senators that it is about time now to speak about the energy…”

“Mr. President, I said yesterday to a large group of Senators that it is about time now to speak about the energy situation in America since we have a bill before the Senate that missed, in terms of filibuster, by two votes. That means that in normal times that bill would have passed handsomely. What is happening around here, if you do not get your way, instead of voting on a bill, you threaten to filibuster. The American people have probably seen more 60-vote issues in the Senate in the last 5 years than in modern history. Almost every issue is turned into a 60-vote issue by a threat to filibuster. That was done on the Energy bill. My friends, I can state what is happening but most of it is right in front of your face. We have the worst case scenario in much of the energy-consuming areas of the country, from the Rockies to New England, with the coldest 10- to 20-day period since the winters of 1977 and 1978. It was 14 degrees at my house this morning a block and a half from the Hart Building. Accuweather is predicting within 2 weeks we could have the coldest weather we have seen in 25 years.”