David Thomas: “I want to speak about energy, which seems to be one of the things I think is very important that people are talking…”

“I want to speak about energy, which seems to be one of the things I think is very important that people are talking about. But first I wish to comment a little on the progress, or lack thereof, that we are making in the Senate. It is not unusual that we come up to the end of the session and find ourselves kind of blocked up here, and things have been postponed until now. Of course, it is the appropriations bills that always end up in this category. We have 13 of them to pass in order to keep the Government going. The fiscal year expired at the end of September, of course. We have extended our time and will do it into next week again. One of the important roles of Congress is this allocation of funding. It is one that is very important and really needs to be given all the attention we can give it. I think we ought to move as quickly as we can to do that job. I hope we don't end up with huge omnibus bills at the end of the session. They are so large that people don't know what is in them. I would rather we deal with them individually as much as possible.”