Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the Udall amendment, of which I am very pleased to be a cosponsor. I want to start, though, by thanking our terrific chairman, who we are so proud is from Michigan, and the distinguished ranking member for all their hard work in putting together what is incredibly important to support our troops and what they need, for their families' needs, and giving us tools for a strong defense. Part of having a strong defense is making sure we give the military the flexibility they need and deserve to use the fuels that make sense for them and not tie their hands for any reason. As we go forward, we know there are opportunities to both save lives and dollars by using a variety of fuels. This amendment, by striking language that stops the military from having that flexibility, is very important. We all know our dependence on oil has serious costs in terms of dollars but, more importantly, in terms of lives. One in every 50 convoys results in a U.S. casualty. We lose an American life from every 50 convoys. Since 2003 more than 3,000 troops have been killed in those attacks. Most of the time, military leaders will tell us: We are moving troops and moving fuel to be able to support the troops. So we need to give the military opportunities, whether it is from new kinds of hydrogen fuel cells or biofuels or advanced batteries.…”