Maxwell Frost: “For the past 22 years, I have had the honor of serving the people of Texas, America's prototypical energy producing…”

“For the past 22 years, I have had the honor of serving the people of Texas, America's prototypical energy producing State, so I know that we can achieve bipartisan consensus around energy policy if we want to. Unfortunately, for 6 years this Republican Congress has been AWOL on energy policy, and, when they have not been asleep at the wheel, they have led the fight against energy independence for America, slashing energy efficiency programs, trying to eliminate the Department of Energy and selling off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Earlier this year, gas prices surged around the Nation, and then, as now, the Republican Congress chose irresponsible partisan attacks against the administration, not reasonable responses with bipartisan support. Most outrageously though, this Republican Congress has consistently ignored or killed Democratic energy policies, and then turned around and tried to score political points when oil prices went up. For more than 6 months, for instance, the United States has been in a weaker position to negotiate with OPEC, because the Republican Congress continues to withhold one of the President's chief tools for dealing with an energy crisis, the clear authority to fully use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This winter, families in the Northeast face a repeat of last winter, record high home heating prices, because this Republican Congress refuses to create a Northeast Heating Oil Reserve.”