Political Quotes

“I rise to address the McConnell-Inhofe amendment to repeal EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. My colleague from Texas was addressing this amendment and noting her support for it. But I wish to bring to my colleagues' attention several reasons this amendment is bad policy for America. First and foremost, this amendment increases our addiction to foreign oil. It increases oil consumption by 455 million barrels. Right now we import about 9.7 million barrels of oil per day. This amendment is equivalent to 6 weeks worth of oil imports. Recognize that gas prices are about $3.50 per gallon, so the McConnell-Inhofe amendment amounts to a $68 billion pricetag for working families to buy gas from oil imported from overseas. This is not a tax that in any way supports our economy. In fact, this is a tax that goes out of our economy to purchase energy from overseas--from the Middle East, from Nigeria, from Venezuela. That is very profitable to the companies that supply that oil. It is very profitable to the governments far outside of the United States of America. But it certainly hurts the citizens of our Nation. It takes our energy dollars and puts them elsewhere, rather than keeping them inside our economy. It decreases our national security rather than increasing our national security. Furthermore, gasoline prices are set by the law of supply and demand. This amendment increases our demand for foreign oil. So if anything, this amendment increases gas prices.…”