Byron Dorgan: “I heard the statement by my colleague from Florida. He is aggressive and persuasive. I must say, in the committee we…”

“I heard the statement by my colleague from Florida. He is aggressive and persuasive. I must say, in the committee we have already had some of these discussions by some who would want to open the Outer Continental Shelf and have more drilling and have a State election and so on. We already had some of that discussion, and I do not know whether anybody can agree in advance to prohibit amendments. You cannot agree to that, certainly, or agree to oppose amendments you do not know exist. But I would say to the Senator from Florida, I do not think there is a ghost of a chance of us finishing this energy bill and having it carry some new mandate for Outer Continental Shelf production. That is just not going to happen, in my judgment. I think the reason it is not going to happen, at least in part, is for the reasons my colleague from Florida has described with his charts of what it would do to Florida. And it also relates to some concerns in other areas as well dealing with the Outer Continental Shelf and areas that have been set aside. I just want to say, I understand the presentation. I did not mean to be here to interrupt it. I would like to make a general statement at 2:15 about the bill which, incidentally, I think is an excellent bill. It is the best energy bill we have brought to the Senate for several decades, in my judgment. I am going to support a couple of additions to it here and there.…”