On the recordMarch 3, 2011
clearly some very serious subjects are being discussed today. I applaud my colleague from Kentucky for bringing up the tough stuff. We cannot escape reality. Our reality is in the entitlements; that we will finally grapple with the insurmountable debt we are faced with as a nation, some very difficult issues in front of us with equally difficult solutions. As we stand and present them, try to educate one another, much less those we represent, this is a critical time for us to be talking about all the issues that need to be on the table. One of the issues being discussed around family dinner tables is what is happening in this country as it relates to the price of oil and how that translates more personally to American families who, every time they go to fill up the tank, it is costing them more and more. Every time we pick up a newspaper, every time we turn on the TV, we see a story about the rising prices of oil. They are asking: What is going on. They look at the situation in the Middle East and the combination of international events that is driving it. It is also domestic policies that have helped to push oil above $100 a barrel. All of us are concerned about what those higher prices mean for us as a nation. We are committed to protecting the American people and our businesses and ensuring we have an ability to deal with rising prices at the same time we are trying to emerge from this difficult recession period. This is a tough time for us.
