Cliff Stearns: “we are going to hear perhaps from the people on this side that we could have done more. Let me just say to my…”

“we are going to hear perhaps from the people on this side that we could have done more. Let me just say to my colleagues, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), who is chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, had 35 hearings on this bill. We had an energy conference in the 107th Congress in which we tried for so many hours, so many days, to try and bring this bill together. We could not in the 107th. Here we are in the 108th, and now, nearly after 2 full days of markup by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin), the distinguished chairman of the full committee, we went almost all night for 2 days we passed this bill. There is nobody in this Congress who is more bipartisan and willing to work the extra mile to get results. In fact, I call the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Tauzin) the Energizer Bunny. On this bill he has gone way over the top, he and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton), to accommodate and to help Members bring their ideas into this bill, and they have been willing to also when necessary compromise. So there is no reason to think, as we come to mark up this bill on the floor, that we do not have the best product possible in this Congress. I think this product is good, and that is why I think it represents a balance of sensible production initiatives with conservation.”