Jim Inhofe: “the regular order is the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the highway bill. This is one we are very much…”

“the regular order is the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the highway bill. This is one we are very much concerned about. I have said several times I am hoping Members will come to the floor and speak on the highway bill. I know the distinguished Senator from Illinois wants to be heard right now. Let me only make one comment. Earlier on I talked a little bit about the Energy bill. The distinguished junior Senator from Massachusetts started off with a quote by the President that was not quite complete. What the President said was the Energy bill would have no immediate impact on gas prices but long-term gas prices will be affected by an energy bill. I made that very clear a few minutes ago when I talked about the fact we have been trying to get an energy bill since the 1980s. I don't say this in a partisan way because we tried to get an energy bill during the Reagan administration and the Carter administration before that, the first Bush administration, and the Clinton administration. We were unable to do it. It was not until this President came along and offered an energy bill or an energy policy for America. It is long in waiting. Obviously, supply and demand tells us that portion of energy that is generated by oil and gas is going to be cheaper if we are able to do it locally and do it in this country without depending upon foreign sources of oil. We know what happened in OPEC days back in the 1970s. We know we can be held hostage again.…”