Darrell Issa: “No story of Tim Russert would be complete if we didn't talk about the loss we're going to have this political season.…”

“No story of Tim Russert would be complete if we didn't talk about the loss we're going to have this political season. Clearly, as Barack Obama and John McCain compete for the hearts and minds of the American people, we're going to miss Tim Russert asking the tough questions. We're going to miss him undoubtedly at the debates. Somebody else is going to have to be there to be fair but tough. Additionally, we're going to miss Tim Russert when it comes to the people on both sides of the issue of why we have $5 gasoline and $135 oil. I think Tim Russert would have been just the right guy to hold people accountable, who would talk about the 68 million acres that are 'inactive' while, in fact, 41 million are under current lease and use and are producing millions of barrels of oil and natural gas a day, but more importantly, over 2 billion acres are not available for exploration and development, including the over 50 miles and less than 200 miles off the California coast. Those miles certainly could give us the natural gas we need to fire our electricity in California at a time when we are dangerously close to the lights going out once again. So, I'm going to miss Tim Russert because this debate is too important not to have, a fact-oriented, unbiased moderator who can, in fact, bring to bear the truth that we need to have.”