Lynn A. Westmoreland: “Thank you, Mr. Garrett. This has something to do with the Constitution, something to do with what the intent of our…”

“Thank you, Mr. Garrett. This has something to do with the Constitution, something to do with what the intent of our Founding Fathers was. I don't think that they had in mind Senate bill 2739 which just passed the House with 117 dissenting votes and they must have had right at 300 who voted for it. It was an omnibus bill that included 61 distinct pieces of legislation, 61, at a cost of $380 million. Sixty-one bills rolled into one, $380 million, 20 minutes debate, voted under suspension. That has got to make Americans proud, Madam Speaker. It has got to make our Founding Fathers roll over in their graves. But the part that really bothered me the most, because I talked earlier about the price of gas and what the majority party's commonsense plan to lower those gas prices was. And I look at this bill, Senate bill 2739 permanently blocks exploration for natural energy resources on millions of acres of Federal land at a time when this country and our entire economy is suffering as a result of these record high energy prices. But yet we permanently block exploration of natural gas. Also, you know, we only own 670 million acres. You know, Congressman Garrett, I don't know what the Founding Fathers had in mind with the Constitution, but I think if they had really figured that the Federal Government would own 670 million acres, they may have put that in there somewhere. One thing they did put in the Constitution was about private property rights.”