Pete Domenici: “I have a number of Senators on this side of the aisle who wish to speak, and they certainly are going to have their…”

“I have a number of Senators on this side of the aisle who wish to speak, and they certainly are going to have their turn. I thank the occupant of the chair for being here this morning. Obviously, this is an issue that some people think is very important to the State of Alaska, and there is no question that it is. But this is an issue that is important to the American people. Every day Americans are worried about our future. We just saw hurricanes in the States of Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi shut down oil production in that part of the Nation. All of a sudden, America found out that when we have that much less oil--the amount that the hurricanes took off the market--everything happens for the worst for America. I want to start with a simple proposition. The minimal amount expected to be received by the U.S. people from ANWR is about equivalent to all of the oil that was shut down by the hurricanes. Just think of that. Everybody was listening to televisions were talking about and, newspapers were printing all of the oil rigs onshore and offshore that produce energy for America that were shut down causing this enormous problem for America. One estimate is that ANWR will yield that much oil or more, which is a pretty good starting point.…”