Political Quotes

“earlier this month Saddam Hussein indicated that he was terminating oil production for 30 days. That would terminate oil from Iraq to the United States. I have a chart in the Chamber that shows currently the oil that we are receiving from Iraq. This chart shows the historic trend of crude oil imports from Iraq to the United States. In January, it was about 294,000 barrels. In June, it went up to 973,000 barrels. One of the extraordinary things occurred in September. In September, it was at a high of almost 1.2 million barrels. Lest we forget, during September we had a terrorist attack in New York, in Washington, DC, and the downing of the aircraft in Pennsylvania. What does this have to do with Iraq? Well, we have known for some time that Saddam Hussein has been fostering and supporting terrorist activities. And to give you some idea, let me show you this little replica of an acknowledged statement from his Government relative to providing funding to the Palestinian suicide bombers. There is a check for $25,000. Previous to this, he was providing payments of up to $10,000. With an incentive of $25,000, God only knows to what extent terrorist activities will continue. Yet as we look at the United States and the trends we have seen in oil imports, as the Mideast crisis worsens, we see the price of oil rise. We also have another chart. We have seen this oil come into the United States. People probably don't really know from where their oil comes.”