Political Quotes

“It was vetoed by President Clinton. Had we proceeded with it at that time, we would now know what we had. And I think that the Senator from Massachusetts has forgotten one thing. On matters of national security--and certainly national security is an issue, as we look at our situation with Iraq, our dependence on imported oil from Saddam Hussein, the fact that we are enforcing a no-fly zone, risking the lives of men and women--on September 11, we were importing over a million barrels of oil a day from Iraq. We are threatened now relative to the exposure of terrorism from that part of the world. And the Senator from Massachusetts has chosen not to let 50 percent of the Senate make a decision on a matter of national security. He has chosen on his own to filibuster something that has never been done in my understanding of the traditions of the Senate on a matter of national security. This is what the ANWR issue is. It is the national security of our country because, obviously, as the Senator from Massachusetts knows very well, when there is a shortage of oil, the price goes up. The Senator from Massachusetts would recall in 1973, when we had the Arab oil embargo, when we had the Yom Kippur War, we were 37-percent dependent on imported oil. Today we are 57- to 58-percent dependent. What happened in 1973, we had gas lines around the block. There was frustration. People were blaming government.…”