Political Quotes

“good morning. And I thank my good friend, Senator Warner. Let me indicate my support for the DOD authorization bill. It has never been my intent to block this legislation. However, as a consequence of the manner in which the objections were heard relative to the DOD authorization bill, and the effort to put H.R. 4, the House energy bill, as an amendment on it, I felt compelled to come before this body and ask the majority when we might take up an energy bill, a national energy security bill that addresses protecting the critical energy infrastructure of our Nation, whether it be electric reliability, pipeline safety, and provisions of the administration's energy security proposal. There were other issues relative to securing domestic supplies: Price Anderson, clean coal, ANWR, hydro provisions, and a title reducing demand and increasing efficiencies. I felt it imperative, based on the requests from the White House, the Vice President, and the Secretaries of Energy and Interior, that we have some assurance that the Senate will complete its work on a national energy security package.”