James M. Talent: “I understand we are under time constraints, and I will be brief. I think the Senator from Oregon has made the case very…”

“I understand we are under time constraints, and I will be brief. I think the Senator from Oregon has made the case very persuasively. I congratulate him for raising this important issue in committee. I was concerned that if we attached this provision in committee, it might subject the whole provision relating to the ANWR part of the bill to a budget point of order, and I did not want to imperil that part of the bill. As I said before, when I spoke on the Senate floor, I simply do not see any reason why we should cut ourselves off from accessing oil in our own country. But I think the Senator's amendment, and my amendment, is a natural supplement to the underlying purpose of exploring for oil in the Arctic. It is to increase our national security. It is to lower prices in the United States. It is to make certain we have access to oil when we need it. In order to do that, I think we have to be certain that the oil does not go on the world market but, rather, is reserved for the needs of the United States. Not only is this right economically because, as the Senator said, it is important, if we are going to meet the budget targets in this bill, that we have access to this oil here in the United States, it is also very important as a hedge against foreign boycotts or threats or oil blackmail that somebody may want to use against the United States.…”