María Elvira Salazar: “In each State of the Union Address that President Bush has given to our country over the last 6 years, he has talked…”

“In each State of the Union Address that President Bush has given to our country over the last 6 years, he has talked about the importance of energy independence for our Nation. In 2001, he said loudly and clearly that we as America "must become more energy independent." In 2002, he said: We need to encourage conservation, promote technology, and build infrastructure. And again last year, most of us remember the President loudly and clearly telling the people of America, the people of this world, that America is addicted to oil and we need to do something about it. I was pleased last night that the President revisited an issue he had talked about before--our energy independence. In my view, this is a signature issue for all of us in the 21st century. Encompassed in this issue of energy security for our Nation, we see the national security of America because today the way we approach the energy issue, where we now import 70 percent of our oil from foreign countries, we end up funding both ends of the war on terror.”