Political Quotes

“this afternoon the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to consideration of S. 940, the Close Big Oil Tax Loophole Act. I have not decided how I would vote on final passage of the act in its current form. In fact, earlier this year, I voted against an amendment offered by Senator Levin that contained many similar proposals, primarily because there were provisions in that amendment that I felt did not receive the full attention they deserved. Yet because I believe that the full Senate ought to debate the merits of existing tax preferences for our Nation's oil and gas industry, I will vote in favor of this motion to proceed. Additionally, beyond the Tax Code changes, I strongly support the act's provision repealing the Outer Continental Shelf deep water and deep gas royalty relief, and this repeal should also be debated by the full Senate. The act's underlying provisions closely follow provisions that the President has proposed in the three budget recommendations he has so far presented to the Congress--except that this bill would apply only to the so-called Big Five producers. As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and as chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure, I have had the opportunity to study and receive testimony on the act's underlying provisions, and I believe there is merit in at least some of these provisions.…”