Political Quotes

“I agree with the Senator. So does the League of Conservation Voters, an organization in Washington that looks for important environmental votes. They said the Durbin amendment is a critical vote on the scorecards of Senators across the United States because it gets to the basics: Do you care about the future? Do you care about the responsibilities of American consumers and American producers of automobiles to make a better car and a better truck? If you do not care, then you want the current situation to continue. Remember the history. If you reflect on the history, where did we come up with the word ``cafe''? How was this created? It was created by a law in this Chamber in 1975 which said to automobile manufacturers: You have to do better; 14 miles a gallon is sinful. It will make us more dependent on foreign oil and it will pollute the environment. You must produce a more efficient car. The chorus from Detroit and other automobile manufacturers could be heard all over the Chamber. They said the opponents of this amendment are saying it is technically impossible to make more fuel-efficient cars. It cannot be done. Second, go ahead and make more fuel-efficient cars; they will not be as safe. We guarantee it. We will be riding around in these flimsy cars that are so light that lives will be lost right and left. Third, they said: This is a job killer. More fuel efficiency for cars in America means we are going to ship American automobile manufacturing jobs overseas.”