Byron Dorgan: “early in 2007 I met with a distinguished group of American business leaders and retired military officers who had formed…”

“early in 2007 I met with a distinguished group of American business leaders and retired military officers who had formed an organization called Securing America's Future Energy, SAFE, Coalition for the purpose of improving our country's energy security. This organization was comprised of a high level group of business and retired military leaders led by Federal Express CEO Fred Smith, and retired Marine GEN P.X. Kelley. They understood that our country's continued dependence on foreign oil coming from troubled parts of the world holds our entire economy hostage to events that are outside of our control. They knew that our energy security relates to both economic security and our national security and they wanted to do something about it. Their organization worked to develop a specific, aggressive plan that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce the intensity of oil use. Specifically, the plan called for an increase in vehicle efficiency through more aggressive CAFE standards. It also called for additional energy production here at home, both renewable and fossil energy, a much greater emphasis on conservation, and new and innovative ways to make more efficient use of our energy. Following our meeting I decided to take the lead in sponsoring legislation to implement the bulk of the SAFE Coalition's plan because I believed it was the best combination of approaches to begin solving our problem of excessive dependence on foreign oil.”