Byron Dorgan: “the amendment I have offered is an amendment we will vote on this morning. I was disappointed yesterday to discover that…”

“the amendment I have offered is an amendment we will vote on this morning. I was disappointed yesterday to discover that there was opposition to the amendment. This is an amendment that passed without opposition in the last Congress. So surprisingly now I am discovering that some have changed their mind. I will describe why, if this Congress has any gumption at all to decide that we ought to change course and move in a new direction and be bold and big when we think about our energy future, they will support this amendment. President Bush said the following about our dependence on foreign oil in his State of the Union Address: America's energy security is threatened by our dependence on foreign oil. He said: We import 55 percent of the oil we consume. That is expected to grow to 68 percent by 2025. Nearly all of our cars and trucks run on gasoline. They are the main reason America imports so much oil--that, from President Bush--two-thirds of the 20 million barrels of oil we use each day for transportation. Fuel cell vehicles offer the best hope of reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”