Byron Dorgan: “I am pleased to be here supporting a piece of legislation which I think advances this country's energy interests. I am a…”

“I am pleased to be here supporting a piece of legislation which I think advances this country's energy interests. I am a member of the Senate Energy Committee. I have worked with Senator Bingaman and Senator Domenici not only on the previous Energy bill in 2005 but on this Energy bill, and I think this is a good bill. We are going to improve it some on the floor of the Senate, but it came out of the Energy Committee as a bipartisan bill and one I think will improve the energy policy in this country. Energy is a very important policy. We don't think about it much. I know most all of us get up in the morning and we just flick a switch someplace in our house. That switch turns on lights and we turn on the television set, it turns on all the things we use all day. While we are sleeping, the air-conditioner is running. We have all these conveniences, and we do not necessarily understand that all of it comes from somewhere beyond a switch. So energy has been pretty easy for this country. Now we are running into some interesting questions and challenges. We have to develop a more thoughtful, more sensible energy policy for the long-term future.”