I just got notice just here just a minute ago, that Patriot Coal has just now issued a warn notice to the miners in West Virginia that 2,000 more coal miners in West Virginia are going to lose their job in the next few days.

I rise today to speak about a bill that is long past due--long past due--and one that, in part, honors our dear colleague and my dear friend Frank Lautenberg. Anybody who served with Frank knew he served with compassion, and he had a…

Abadi has made a lot of great promises. There are demonstrations going on throughout Iraq.

You have worked through that. All of our States that had concerns about that know they will not be usurped by preemption, that we will commence and you have to reduce your standards.

I'm saying you had Indiana, Mississippi, Kansas, Illinois, and Louisiana, and Texas at 100 percent.

I would think, just on the face of it, that one of the priorities that we would certainly like to see, and Senator Boxer has talked about this in terms of her State, is a domestic influence here, or not influence, a domestic priority over…

I think the enthusiasm we saw with the young investigators, the young researchers, is something that was very inspiring for me.

I would like to recognize Mrs. Lautenberg here to observe this historic moment. We are so happy to have you here, Bonnie. I know that Frank would be proud of you, having fought the good fight that he fought forever. There is our good…

The State of West Virginia, as you know, would be very much interested in using and developing this pilot project.

We have about seven million barrels a day of imports that we depend on.

I support it wholeheartedly. It moves it strategically and also gives the President a chance to use a trigger and basically stop the export if the oil prices spike here and the pump price goes up.

I would just say that the State of West Virginia would be very interested in partnering up with the Department of Energy for a coal biomass to liquid with carbon capture.

It is hard to go home and explain why we would be exporting when, basically, the prices here can be so volatile.

I am wary of proposals that expand the power and the ability of the Federal Government to intervene in the free market.

Sooner or later we are going to have to use the resources we have not to be dependent on foreign oil.

We hope to use it as that strategic reserve, but we keep it around for good reason.

We are going to have to have an energy policy here that does not make us more dependent on foreign oil.

Guarding against the use of the SPR for political purposes, I think, should be an enduring concern for all of us.