Political Quotes

“Thank you, Madam President. Oil Independence Madam President, today I come to this Chamber to speak about oil independence for a stronger America. Many folks across America are continuously talking about the downside of our addiction to overseas oil. Today I am going to be presenting a plan embodying a bill with that name: Oil Independence for a Stronger America. One of the big issues of our dependence on foreign oil is national security. We send $1 billion a day overseas to governments that often don't share our core American values; governments in the Middle East, in Nigeria, in Venezuela. Sometimes those dollars end up directly in the hands of terrorists. As some national security analysts have noted, in our current wars we are sometimes funding both sides of the battle, and that is not a good place to be. In addition, to maintain our access to that overseas oil, we have to maintain a significant national security military force. Some analysts have estimated the cost of that additional security, that additional access to guarantee oil for America, has a value or a cost of up to $5 per gallon. So those aren't dollars we pay at the pump, but we certainly pay them in terms of our national security overhead. In addition to national security, our addiction to overseas oil is terrible for our economy. We are sending $1 billion a day overseas. Two years ago, when the cost of a barrel of oil surged upwards, we were sending $2 billion a day overseas. It will be that again.…”