Ron Wyden

You all have been very constructive to work with, not just on this legislation, but on timber payments...

I think your biomass contribution alone makes it clear that you are setting out some of the most promising ground for the rural Oregon economy, and we're going to work closely with you.

I could tell you, anybody who can increase their 30 or 40 percent of what they're doing, and they're talking about a promising industry of the future.

What happens on these lands is of vital importance to Oregonians and the Nation.

We need a Federal solution that all in Oregon will benefit from.

I would like to ask the leader if he would be willing to modify his request this evening to include the bipartisan amendment No. 4183 that would once and for all eliminate secret holds here in the Senate. Senator Grassley and I, as part of…

I have already indicated to Senators Coburn and McCaskill that I am interested in being a cosponsor of this legislation. I think it is a constructive idea. In effect, we are asking each other the same questions. I think the measure the…

Could we include in your legislation the idea that whenever somebody wants to pass a bill by unanimous consent, they have to come to the floor and say: I, Senator Jim DeMint, want to pass this bill, a bill I have not read, which has not…

I certainly hope that you will look into this thoroughly.

It seems to me that what's going on here is pretty clear.

Given that pattern of activity--and I had followed it since our hearing--I went out and put together this letter, with 17 of our colleagues as cosigners, asking you all to investigate.

I am increasingly concerned about the gridlock between 2 objectives that this country absolutely has to address. One of them is national security. The other is energy security.

I put more than 4 years into the project, 4 years. At the very last minute, DoD came in and raised an objection.

Policies and regulations serve no purpose if the administration doesn't enforce them.

I want to work very closely with you, Mr. Secretary, in going forward with this reform proposal.

I think the central question is, to get the maximum value out of your new enforcement effort, we've got to attack the problem at the outset.

Have we adequate controls over those who are drilling, presently, or are we waiving the law to allow a more expedited procedure?

My sense is that they aren't being enforced.

It is long past time to drain this safety and environmental swamp at the Minerals Management agency.

We got to play catchup ball in a hurry, with respect to the environmental and safety area, because the regulations that are there have not been adequate.

I know we'll have a bipartisan effort here in the committee.

Now, what's happening in the Gulf is obviously an environmental disaster of huge proportions, yet Minerals Management didn't require an assessment of environmental consequences of an accident when it approved BP's drilling permit.

The reason we feel so strongly is because the secret hold in the Senate is an indefensible violation of the public's right to know. We all understand every time we are home in our States how frustrated people are with the way business is…

This bipartisan amendment will abolish the secret hold in the Senate, which, in my view, is a violation--an indefensible violation--of the public's right to know. With a secret hold, any Senator can block a piece of legislation or a…

The company always says the same thing after one of these accidents: We're going to toughen up our standards, we're going to improve management, we're going to deal with risk.