William Helms: “a troubling aspect in assessing all aspects of maintaining a strong U.S. national security is one that receives scant…”

“a troubling aspect in assessing all aspects of maintaining a strong U.S. national security is one that receives scant attention--the fact that the United States is more deeply dependent upon foreign countries to supply most of America's energy needs. The situation today is worse than ever before in our history. I began in 1996 my reports to the American people every week in which I stated the precise amount of oil imported by the U.S. from foreign countries. Some of these countries are openly hostile to U.S. interests. I make these reports to emphasize the extent to which the U.S. has become perilously dependent on them. I investigated this issue a decade ago when I presided over several hearings as the then chairman of the Agriculture Committee. In my present capacity as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee we have held hearings; more are scheduled this year. While the Administration acknowledges that U.S. oil imports are a national security concern, nothing has been done by the Administration to resolve U.S. dependency on foreign oil.”