Political Quotes

“Madam President, when President Obama delivered his first State of the Union Address several weeks ago, I tell you I was pleasantly surprised by his remarks on energy policy. In addition to calling for bipartisan legislation, the President indicated his support for more nuclear energy and new oil and gas development. I think those are all positive steps. They are taking us in the right direction, not least because they would draw strong support in Congress, and I think they would help create jobs all across the country at a time when we are looking at how we can boost the economy and create jobs. This is critically important. Having listened to the President's ideas, I looked forward to seeing how the administration would begin to act on them, how this would all play out in his new budget. When that document came out last Monday, I expected to at least see some progress in each of the areas mentioned during the State of the Union Address. Instead, I found some disparities--some were small; some were rather striking--between the President's words to Congress and the agencies' requests from us. This disconnect is both disappointing and perhaps a little difficult to explain. At the very least, it is apparent that the vision the President presented to Congress does not match what some of his agencies have in mind. I do not believe these are welcome shifts.…”