Lisa Murkowski: “I thank the Chair. Along the way, those working on this pipeline made major engineering advances, learning how to…”

“I thank the Chair. Along the way, those working on this pipeline made major engineering advances, learning how to insulate the pipe and how to keep the permafrost ground frozen so that the pipe didn't sink out of site. When the project was completed in 1977, 3 years after construction started, we had a new domestic supply of oil made available to the United States--the single largest domestic source it has ever had. On average, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline--we call it TAPS--now sees just over 800,000 barrels of oil pass through it each day. This is 231,000 barrels per hour and 22,000 gallons per minute. So, in other words, in the time I have been standing to address you, Mr. President, it has transported about 100,000 gallons of crude. At peak production, TAPS provided the United States with about 2 million barrels of oil a day, or 30 percent more than Saudi Arabia does today, and nearly as much oil as the entire Persian Gulf provides our country today. And Alaskan oil, unlike Middle Eastern oil, does not come from unstable regimes, does not hinder our foreign policy options by bonding us and our allies to such regimes, and is not at risk of being cut off due to instability. We have been a stable domestic supplier of the oil needs of the United States for over 30 years. The pipeline has turned out to be a much better deal than originally anticipated. The dire predictions of environmental disaster have been proven false.”