Political Quotes

“I want to thank the author of H.R. 6 for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Chairman, lifting self-imposed restrictions on natural gas exports is a win-win situation for the American people. It will create American jobs and strengthen our allies' independence, bolstering our economic and strategic partnerships. As chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, many foreign leaders have expressed to me the need for energy diversification and its importance to strengthen our strategic partnerships. We already cooperate with our allies on a variety of security issues. Energy security must also be a component of our strategic alliances. America's emerging role as an energy producer has the potential to enhance our security relationships and influence the global marketplace. As we have seen in Ukraine, Russia will not hesitate to use its energy resource dominance to expand its sphere of influence. Just last week, Russia's state-owned monopoly, Gazprom, cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine. In the Asia Pacific, Japan is a critical security partner as we counter threats posed by countries such as North Korea. Already the world's largest importer of natural gas, Japan is dependent on Russia, the Middle East, and Africa for nearly 50 percent of its natural gas imports and is seeking greater imports as a result of its 2011 nuclear power plant disaster. Increasing U.S.…”