Political Quotes

“I rise to support the Connolly-Peters amendment because times of fiscal restraint force us to prioritize. However, I am disappointed that the Republican bill prioritizes the needs of extremely profitable private companies over the manufacturing and innovative jobs of the future. ExxonMobil Corp. earned nearly $11 billion in the first 3 months of the year, Shell earned $6.3 billion in the first quarter, and BP made $7.1 billion. Yet the Republican bill includes $476 million for fossil energy R&D. Clearly, the private sector has the initiative and the resources to conduct this research on their own, and they are doing so. Private sector R&D currently dwarfs activities at the Department of Energy, yet this program is actually seeing an increase in funds. This amendment strikes a better balance by decreasing funding in the fossil energy account and restoring the Vehicle Technologies Program to fiscal year 2011 levels. The Vehicle Technologies Program supports private sector growth and the development of innovative technologies to meet mileage and emission standards for both cars and trucks. Consider how much fuel is used in the transport of consumer goods across our Nation on medium and heavy-duty trucks. Small gains in efficiency can have huge gains in fuel and cost savings. The Vehicle Technologies Program is investing heavily in new truck technologies, which have some of the greatest potential to reduce our Nation's petroleum use and dependence on foreign oil.…”