Tom Udall: “I will focus, as Senator Markey has and several of my colleagues before me, on this web of deceit we have been talking…”

“I will focus, as Senator Markey has and several of my colleagues before me, on this web of deceit we have been talking about here today--the Koch brothers' web of dark money, lobbyists, and infiltration into the Trump administration that truly threatens our democracy. The influence of their hundreds of millions of dollars is pervasive, pernicious, and hidden. I applaud Senator Whitehouse's work that focuses the public's attention on this threat. Thank you to my colleagues for shining a spotlight on the murky tentacles of the Koch influence empire here in Washington, especially its influence on the swamp that is the Trump administration. We must keep fighting for comprehensive campaign finance and electoral reform to get dark money like the Koch brothers' out of our politics. The Koch family business started in oil, and Koch Industries is still heavily invested in petroleum and petroleum products. Its subsidiary, Flint Hills Resources, owns three oil refineries. The Koch Pipeline Company owns and operates 4,000 miles of pipeline that transports oil, refined petroleum, and natural gas throughout six States. Koch Industries is the largest foreign and American leaseholder in Canada's oil sands, possibly leasing up to 2 million acres. As well, each year, Koch Industries markets, trades, and manages logistics for tons of coal and petroleum coke.…”