John Kerry: “I came to the Senate hoping I would always find that this institution debated facts and truth. Obviously, I am not…”

“I came to the Senate hoping I would always find that this institution debated facts and truth. Obviously, I am not naive. I know there are some politics; we all understand that. I am not trying to suggest that is not part of it. But the level of Harry and Louise-ing of this issue that we saw in the last days is a commentary on money in American politics and how the agenda of the country gets distorted and the ways in which special interests and big money can mold an issue into a certain perspective completely devoid of some of the reality. We saw a National Academy of Sciences study used again and again in the most obviously distorted way. People would read from the study which referenced a 1993 analysis. Despite the fact that analysis has been redone since then, despite the fact there is a 2002 current year analysis, everybody kept going back. Let us go back to 1993 because that is much more effective, even though it is not true. Across America, people were told they might have to farm with a compact car. I know the Chair does not believe that. People are not going to be farming with compact cars. Tractors are not even under CAFE standards.”