Jim Inhofe: “I will oppose the bill because of these elements that have been introduced. This is of great concern to me. Looking at…”

“I will oppose the bill because of these elements that have been introduced. This is of great concern to me. Looking at the fiscal end, I see four reasons we should not have this on the bill. First of all, if we do this, and we have already done it--and on the Everglades portion I pleaded with everyone it should have been a stand-alone bill because it is too big to be incorporated into this resources bill--this will be the first time we have actually had projects without first having the Chief of the Corps of Engineers give a report. That has been something we have said is necessary. Second, we are looking at questionable technology. Everyone has admitted this. Certainly, the chairman of the committee, the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire, was very honest about it and straightforward. He said he felt strongly enough about it that we will have to try some things that perhaps have not been proven. This is unprecedented. Third, the amount of money we are talking about is open ended. We say this will be $7.8 billion in 38 years. But when we first started Medicare, approximately the same length of time ago, they said it would cost $3.4 billion, and this year it is $232 billion.”