Bill Nelson: “just exactly what the Senator from Illinois says, there is a waiting list a mile long to get the hybrid vehicles that…”

“just exactly what the Senator from Illinois says, there is a waiting list a mile long to get the hybrid vehicles that, in the case of Toyota, get 50 miles to a gallon in city driving. Yet what do we have to do to get the rest of the automobile manufacturers? Maybe it is going to take Hurricane Katrina, with a scare of a shortage, with the shutting down of refineries, that is going to finally get our collective heads out of the sand and face the fact we are so dependent on oil--and foreign oil--and that this is not a good position for this country to be in. Does the Senator from Illinois remember when we offered a simple little amendment, and it was only to increase miles per gallon on SUVs, phased in over a multiyear period, and we could not get anymore than about 39 votes out of 100 Senators in this Chamber? Yet we are facing the crisis we are today.”