Tina Smith: “in thinking about my remarks today, I was reflecting back upon the investments made during the Great Depression in the…”

“in thinking about my remarks today, I was reflecting back upon the investments made during the Great Depression in the Pacific Northwest by President Franklin Roosevelt, by his congressional friends. They were at the time expensive, but they were done at a time in America, particularly the Pacific Northwest, when only 30 percent of the American people had electricity. One had to live in the city to have electricity. President Roosevelt went to Oregon and Washington and dedicated the Bonneville Dam. At the time, in 1937, it was an enormous undertaking. He was a visionary when he dedicated that dam. He foresaw the benefits of universal electrification of our Nation from an economic and from an environmental point of view. There were those who expressed concern about the cost of this Energy bill. In preparing for these remarks, I read the address of Franklin Roosevelt those many years ago because it is applicable even today. He ends his address with this adage, which is as true today as it was then: We in America are wiser in using our wealth on projects like this which will give us more wealth, better living, and greater happiness for our children. It seems to me the difference between those for the bill and those against it has to do with money and the picking of winners and losers supposedly in this bill, and the difference of approach. The American people want affordable energy. The American people want a clean environment.”