Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. It is quite astounding that somebody from the State of California--a State that exists because of Federal investments through the entirety of its existence--would even come forward with an amendment like this. For someone from Ohio, it is very unusual to see this. Let me just say that, in opposing this amendment, I wish to offer the perspective that America can't live in the past, that, in fact, when one looks at what we are enduring because of our dependence on energy that is imported, there is no greater imperative than for us to unhook from imports. As I look at the gentleman's amendment, it is actually very destructive. You actually destroy our future. America is not innovating at the level that we should in renewables. We have a burgeoning solar industry, but China has captured it. She steals the patents. She steals the innovation, and we don't do much about it. You take money from fossil programs. I don't have all of the scientific answers, but I know that a piece of our future relies on access that we have here in the ground. The energy portfolio and the research portfolio of the Department of Energy is critical. The reason we have the horizontal drilling technologies--those weren't developed outside by some humanitarian group.…”