Political Quotes

“I compliment my good friend, the senior Senator from West Virginia, for his attention to the energy crisis that clearly this Nation faces, and particularly his attention to the realization that we have become so dependent on imported energy which clearly affects our national security interests. In 1973--this is a time the Senator would certainly remember, as many Americans do--as a consequence of the Arab oil embargo, we had a very significant event in the United States. We had gas lines around the block. Many younger people don't remember that time. We were 37-percent dependent on imported oil. We created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a consequence of our concern, fearing we might approach 50 percent dependence. We fought a war in the Persian Gulf. At that time, I believe we were 47-percent dependent. Today, this Nation is 56-percent dependent on imported oil. The Department of Energy forecasts by the year 2015 to 2020 we will be 65-percent dependent. I hope we can learn something from history; that is, that we lose our leverage if we become so dependent on that single source of imports. As the Senator from West Virginia pointed out, we have many forms of energy in this country. We have coal, as the Senator notes; we have gas; we have hydro; we have nuclear. However, we don't have a cohesive energy policy. As a consequence, we face a crisis. The farmers in this country are getting ready to plant, and they are going to be facing high energy costs.”