Political Quotes

“I just want the taxpayers to know what they are paying for. The fact is, part of that oil was purchased by this Government and put in there, but most of it was taken from royalties. They took the oil instead of the money. And that was recovered on the Outer Continental Shelf or from public lands. So it is there: 700 million barrels of oil that costs the taxpayers $180 million a year to maintain. I suggest that we have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that is not costing the American people a thing. It is still in the ground in North Dakota, found on public lands, where we cannot get to it. It is found in Montana, on public lands, where we cannot get to it. That is because of organizations that deal primarily in fear, not common sense. That Strategic Petroleum Reserve is also maintained, and it is still in the ground in ANWR. We do not know how big that reserve is. It has been estimated to be anywhere from 5.3 billion barrels upwards.”