Political Quotes

“It said directly: We keep this ban in place, this decades- old ban. It hurts us as a nation. It harms us from a national security perspective, not to mention the benefits that oil exports will provide when it comes to increased production and increased jobs benefits to our economy. There are other folks out there who have also weighed in. Larry Summers, formerly the Treasury Secretary for President Clinton and also Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama, said this about lifting the ban on oil exports: ``The merits are as clear as the merits with respect to any significant public policy issue that I have ever encountered.'' This is a guy many people looked to for leadership in a host of different areas. The merits are as clear as the merits with respect to any significant public policy issue he has encountered. Tom Donilon, formerly the National Security Advisor to President Obama, has said that allowing exports ``will increase diversity of supply, increase competition, reduce volatility and lower prices in global markets.'' The questions we needed to ask about oil exports have been asked, and answered favorably. Independent experts have studied what would happen if we lift the ban and almost universally encouraged us to move forward to lift this outdated, outmoded policy. This is not a partisan issue. My colleague from North Dakota is on the floor today. We have introduced bipartisan legislation to remove this ban.…”