Jeff Bingaman: “let me speak first in support of this bill and going forward with cloture. I acknowledge the procedure we have gone…”

“let me speak first in support of this bill and going forward with cloture. I acknowledge the procedure we have gone through to get to this point has not been ideal. Clearly, when we were unable to get agreement to appoint a conference in the Senate, it became clear we were going to have to use a very awkward procedure. That is what has happened. But the substance of what is before us contains a substantial amount of very good public policy. These are policies we have tried very hard to enact for a very long time. On the whole, I believe this bill represents significant forward progress. Let me mention a few of the things the bill does that I think are very worthwhile. First, the legislation brings about major improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency. My colleague, Senator Domenici, referred to that and clearly that is a centerpiece of this legislation, the improvements of corporate average fuel economy standards. In addition to this hard-won compromise on CAFE, the bill will increase the production and use of biofuels with a particular emphasis on biofuels from cellulosic feedstock. That also is something the President spoke to us about in the State of the Union speech that many of us support, and it is a strong part of this legislation. So I think the combination of improvements in CAFE standards and increases in production and use of biofuels are efforts we have had underway for a long time, and I believe it is important for us to continue with those efforts.”