Political Quotes

“But let me just add a couple of things. You hit one of my hot buttons there. I am on the House Armed Services Committee, and I asked, how much money do we spend protecting the flow of oil? Well, the Department of Defense didn't come up with an answer, but Rand Corporation, one of the consulting firms, said, I think we can do that. They came back with a number that is about 15 percent of the total defense budget. So we are talking over $100 billion a year to protect the flow of oil. That is in addition to the $1 billion a day, which is almost what, $365 billion, that we are also sending overseas. So we are looking at somewhere near half a trillion dollars a year because we are, as you said, stuck in the last two centuries' energy policy. Now, here in this Chamber just a couple of weeks ago standing behind me was the President of the United States; and when he said we should end the subsidies we are giving to oil companies and transfer those subsidies to the energy of the future, the green technologies, I stood up and cheered. My friend, I guess it was my date for the night, is that the word, my date for the night, a good Republican, kind of stood up and clapped his hands, because he is a moderate Republican. But, nonetheless, it is really true. It is billions and billions of dollars a year that we are subsidizing a very successful industry. We don't need to do that. They don't need our subsidy. They are the richest industry in the world.…”