Pete Domenici: “this amendment will gut the ethanol amendment which has been crafted in a bipartisan manner. My good friend from New…”

“this amendment will gut the ethanol amendment which has been crafted in a bipartisan manner. My good friend from New York suggested it would be unfair to make us all buy milk produced in New York. I think that would not only be unfair, but it would be a disaster because we wouldn't have any milk anywhere because they do not produce enough milk to go anywhere in the United States. In any event, we ought to table this amendment and get on with the Energy bill. I compliment the Senator on his arguments. He always makes excellent arguments in behalf of his State and his people. In this case I believe the country is going to be well served by making us less dependent upon oil that is imported from a cartel. He speaks of competition and whether there is going to be competition in ethanol. Let's be serious about this. There is no competition in the world markets for oil. In this case we are going to be producing ethanol that is American in order to displace, gallon by gallon, the oil we import. Having said that, I move to table the amendment. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The question is on agreeing to the motion. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislatuve clerk called the roll. Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), and the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Stevens).”