Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we have been discussing the value of having a multiyear transportation bill, a highway bill moving through the Senate. It is something that I, too, would like to see, but as with everything that we do around here, it is important how we do it. When you have a multiyear highway bill, it is important to ask the question, how are we paying for that? One of the considerations that is in front of this body is to pay for $9 billion of this multiyear highway bill through a selloff of crude oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve--SPR. I have come before this floor several times already during this debate to try to convince colleagues that this is exactly the wrong way to address our transportation priorities by selling off a national energy security priority; basically, an insurance policy that we have for this country, an insurance policy to ensure that at the time that we might be most vulnerable with our energy supplies, we have reserves, we have a safety net we can turn to in the event of an emergency brought about by a hurricane or natural disaster or whether it is a manmade disaster, war or something else that has caused global disruption. In short, it boggles my mind that we would be willing, so willing and almost eager, to tap into this strategic asset for such short-term and limited gain.…”