William Bryan: “I find the amount of hysteria engendered by this issue to be absolutely astonishing. In a series of ads put out by the…”

“I find the amount of hysteria engendered by this issue to be absolutely astonishing. In a series of ads put out by the industry, we have one now that talks about: ``Farming's tough enough with healthy-size pickups. Imagine hauling feed barrels around in a subcompact.'' That implies that this amendment we are proposing will be antithetical to the best interests of America's farmers. We have an ad involving the soccer moms and dads: ``This picture is brought to you by a fantastic soccer team and a minivan just big enough to handle them.'' The clear inference is, if we allow the Department of Transportation to examine these standards, some soccer moms are not going to be able to take their kids to soccer games. Then we have an ad: ``As a small business owner, my truck and I are joined at the hip. An increase in CAFE would put both of us out of business.'' May I say, with great respect to our friends on the other side of the aisle, many of whom are good friends I greatly respect, this is utter nonsense. This is just plain nonsense. I will repeat, as I did earlier, the thrust of what this resolution does. It mandates no standard, no increase.…”