Political Quotes

“I come to the floor again to urge my colleagues to extend the production tax credit for wind energy. I would like to note that on the heels of Senator Durbin's comments about China, we wish the Chinese energy industry well, but we do not want to outsource our wind energy jobs to China needlessly. We are on a path to do so. I see my colleague from Iowa here, Senator Grassley, who I know will speak later on the wind production tax credit, but it is going to expire in less than 1 month from now--December 31, to be specific--if we do not act. That means we are 1 month away from pulling the rug out from under an industry that is currently playing a key role in revitalizing American manufacturing, creating jobs, and powering our Nation. We are literally 1 month away from ending a credit that supports tens of thousands of workers right here in the United States. Each day that we wait to extend the PTC, we risk losing more good- paying American jobs. We also risk doing away with a credit that is a major contributor to the success and development of our Nation's wind industry. This credit has helped companies leverage billions of dollars' worth of investments and created thousands of made-in-America manufacturing jobs. If history is any guide, allowing this critical tax credit to expire would be disastrous. The expiration of the PTC in 2000, 2002, and 2004 led to massive drops in wind energy installation.…”