Political Quotes

“Absolutely. I thank my friend from West Virginia. We built the largest single capital project back in the 1970s when we brought oil off the North Slope, almost 800 miles through the harshest, most unpredictable climates one would ever see. I can tell my colleagues, if we went back to the stories and articles, the sky would fall, the environment would be destroyed, and the world would come to an end by us building that pipeline. We are multiple decades past. It has worked very well. There haven't been those disasters people claimed would happen. On top of that, my friend from Louisiana mentioned the environmental impact and it makes sense that the pipeline is the safest way to move oil. On top of that, we have a choice--the Senator from North Dakota made it very clear--and that is to get it refined in China or the United States. I don't know about anybody here, but I would bet we all agree that between the environmental standards, we have a better environmental record than China in the refining of oil products, so it makes sense for us to do it. On top of that, people are traveling to Alaska not just for the jobs and the opportunity but the beauty of Alaska, and we have more visitors who want to see the pipeline, to visit the pipeline. When I went down the Gulkana on a rafting trip, it is unbelievable beauty. But one of the last things people do when they come down and land the raft and begin to pack to go back home, there is the pipeline going right across the Gulkana.…”