Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I will vote ``no'' on the Murkowski resolution of disapproval. Senator Murkowski and I have worked together on a comprehensive energy bill this Congress and also on a cap-and- trade bill in the last Congress. She has been very consistent in her view that we need to act on the issue of global warming but that we need to be sensitive to the impacts of such legislation on our economy. I appreciate the concerns she has voiced with respect to the need to protect industry from onerous regulation. I firmly believe those views are sincere. I disagree, however, with the substance of this resolution, in that, regardless of overall intent, it is asking Congress to overturn a scientific finding made by some of our best scientists. In my view, the EPA should not be prevented from continuing its work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until Congress is able to prescribe a more permanent fix. For the past several Congresses, we in Congress have been engaged in a dialog on how best to provide a permanent fix. There have been many bills introduced on the topic. We have had several votes on specific legislation. Each time, though, we have fallen short of actually enacting legislation. Now, as a result of the Supreme Court ruling, we are in a situation where the EPA is required by law to take action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.…”