Jeff Flake: “I just think there ought to be somebody who stands and says that research like this is going on in the private sector…”

“I just think there ought to be somebody who stands and says that research like this is going on in the private sector, continually, as it should be. That is where it ought to be. I hope that we can reach more energy independence. But when we look at the situation that we have now with a massive deficit and a huge debt, I think it is too much to ask, particularly given the oil prices where they are and the fact that there are huge profits being made by oil companies who have plenty of room to actually fund a lot of this research on their own, and it is a little too much to ask taxpayers, in my view, to come in. And I have heard the price tag to be somewhere around $400 million. That would seem to me to be a bit steep. So I for one do not support the legislation. I know that it has overwhelming broad bipartisan support, and I am not hopeful that my views will prevail. But I just want to add that I think that this, for the taxpayers at this time, is not a wise move.”