Ed Markey: “This rule does not allow the Democrats to make the amendments which are appropriate on the environmental side. The…”

“This rule does not allow the Democrats to make the amendments which are appropriate on the environmental side. The gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) is looking at an innovative, more balanced approach to Federal lands, and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell), to ensure that our hydroelectric laws are protected so that conservation and fishing and other issues are given the same weight as the generation of electricity. The Waxman amendment would reduce imported oil by 600,000 barrels. The amount that we import from Iraq, that is not put in order. The Oberstar amendment, which would change the relationship between the Clean Water Act and oil and gas drilling in the United States, reducing the amount of protections that are given against the water of our country being polluted. And at a higher level, this bill, in general, is completely unbalanced. I think the American people, as they are watching this debate, probably assume that since we put 70 percent of all of the oil which we consume in this country into gasoline tanks, that we will probably be changing that so we can reduce the amount of oil that SUVs and light trucks and automobiles consume in our country, so that Iran and Saudi Arabia and other countries, we are not sucked even deeper into their internal affairs.”