On the recordOctober 8, 2015
This will then move us in a position of dominating energy strategy globally, putting OPEC and Russia on the defense. They cannot keep up with American energy producers. They don't have the innovation; they don't have the technology; and they are running budget deficits that are harmful to their countries. They will have to change, and we will dominate the energy sector. Further, if we integrate this with our trade policies, we then start to eliminate the abusive practices that national oil companies perpetrate and put American open-market companies, multinational companies, back in the driver's seat. But we also help American producers and producers in my home State of Louisiana, small companies that are suppliers, small companies that provide the services: the boat companies, the maritime companies that help facilitate all of this. This is about job creation. This is about American energy production; it is about American energy security; and it is about having leverage in our foreign policy. That is why I support this first step of lifting this ban on crude exports.
