Trent Lott: “Mr. President, we need a national energy policy. I think the Congress knows that. I think the American people support…”

“Mr. President, we need a national energy policy. I think the Congress knows that. I think the American people support that. I know the President of the United States supports that. Right now we see the difficulties with which we are having to deal around the world: The instability in Venezuela with regard to oil supply from that country, our concerns about the Middle East, the threats from Saddam Hussein. We need our own national energy policy. We need our own energy supplies. We need to encourage conservation, alternative fuels. We need the whole package. And we need to do it now. This is a critical time. This is a matter of our economy, it is a matter of the creation of more jobs, and it is national security. So we need to do this.”