Political Quotes

“Headlined today in one of the papers: ``Oil Prices to Rise as High as $120 Per Barrel Due to the Iraqi Crisis.'' Headlined a couple of days ago: ``Oil at a 3-Month High on Iraq Anxiety.'' This brings me back to an issue that I have spoken of many times throughout the years as a Member of Congress, that this Nation needs to have a national energy policy and, just like you would in a good investment portfolio, a diversified energy portfolio. In the energy arena, I break it into two areas: electricity generation and transportation fuels. In electricity generation, we need to have the full range of competitive fueling technologies to have enough electricity at low prices to fuel and run our economy. It is hot in Washington, D.C., today. A lot of air conditioners are on, and we want to be able to cool our homes at low prices. That means having a diversified energy portfolio: nuclear power, coal, natural gas, hydro, wind, and solar. A debate on a diversified energy portfolio doesn't put all of your eggs in one basket. It allows you to have flexibility when there is a crunch or crisis in one of the other areas--likewise in the transportation fuel arena, especially with the crisis in Iraq. Mr. Speaker, who would have thought, after all these years, we would still be held hostage to high crude oil prices from an unstable region far away off our shores? Shame on us for not taking advantage of what we have locally and in the North American continent.…”