Haley Stevens: “I am perfectly willing at any time to start the debate on ANWR. I prefer to start it when we know we can have an…”

“I am perfectly willing at any time to start the debate on ANWR. I prefer to start it when we know we can have an up-or-down vote. We had one on CAFE. We opposed that. I opposed that. I said at the time one of the reasons I did is I come from a State where every person who has a car has an SUV. Until they show me they are not going to outlaw them, we cannot support that. We can support reasonable restrictions on the use of automobiles that will lead us to have some savings, but savings doesn't produce oil. Oil is a lot more than gasoline, by the way. As I have repeatedly told people, everything from frisbees to panty hose comes out of the barrel of oil, in addition to gasoline. It is time we got down to discussing this amendment. But it ought to be discussed in a manner in which the national security issue is considered. Oil is a national security item for this country--more right now than at any other time except in the 1970s when we had an embargo. We are as near to an embargo as we have been since that time. As I said yesterday, I think we are very close to embargo now.”