Political Quotes

“today marks, I believe, the 6th week during which we have been debating the energy legislation that is before us. In my own view, among the bills we will debate and discuss and vote on this year in this Chamber, few, if any, are as or more important. I am encouraged there is a growing likelihood we actually may vote on cloture and begin to reduce the scope of the amendments and the amount of time that remains for this critical debate, to get to final passage, and hopefully to enter a conference with the House and provide a compromise the President can sign into law. It is in our naked self-interest as a nation to finish our work and to do so with some dispatch. We have heard countless times about our growing dependence on foreign sources of oil, which is now approaching 60 percent. We have heard concerns from a number of Members related to the trade deficit our Nation continues to run, a trade deficit that exceeded $400 billion last year and roughly a third of which is attributable to the oil we import. I will take the next few minutes and share one other reason why we should feel a sense of urgency in passing this legislation and attempting to finalize a compromise with the House and the administration. That deals with what is happening in the atmosphere of our Earth: global warming.”