María Elvira Salazar: “I want to spend a few minutes, as we come to the end of our debate on global warming, to say how important this issue is…”

“I want to spend a few minutes, as we come to the end of our debate on global warming, to say how important this issue is for me. When I get up in the morning and I think of my job as a Senator, I think about the major issues we face around the world. We face issues of war and peace and how we have to deal with terrorism. We face the issue of how we deal with energy independence. Many of us here have joined in a bipartisan effort, progressives and conservatives together, an effort we describe as 'setting America free.' We know the huge issue of health care which confounds and confronts so many people. But among those issues, which are the greatest of our time, is the reality that we are frying our planet, as many people have said. We have not developed a framework to move forward to make sure we save our planet, that we save civilization for our children and grandchildren.”