Thank you very much, Mr. President. We are on the verge of a possible government shutdown, which is extraordinarily regrettable. Controlling the deficit and paying down the debt is a critical priority of this country and must be done. It…

I was just going to move onto that, but I will yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania.

That's one of the great myths. I've heard these myths throughout my travels throughout the district and down here in D.C. that the hydraulic fluid, that there is some secret, that they don't want to talk about it, they don't want to…

I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania. I do want to get into the process. I have a chart here today on the floor of the House to kind of go over exactly what we are talking about when it comes to this--I thank my colleague for joining…

That's exactly what I saw in your district, in your great district as I came down and toured one of those sites. You got a real sense of the difference of having the multiple vertical locations that would talk about clearing trees and…

On the chart that we have here this evening, what we are talking about is that hydraulic fluid is pumped into the horizontal area. Primarily that water is hitting that area, and it is then coming back up the well bore to a certain extent…

My understanding of the processing, correct me if I am wrong, is we are essentially dealing with a two-step process, if you would, in developing the well site. You have the surface up here; you have got the initial, where there is a…

I think that's a point that needs to be stressed is the redundancy of how the initial 1,000 feet, plus or minus, whatever the regulatory agencies say we have to have for that break-off point and that multiple protection to make sure that…

I would echo my colleague's comments about the State agencies being the appropriate agencies to oversee this development. In New York State, right now we are under a moratorium at the local level that has stopped any development of the…

I believe the chart identifies what we're talking about here. We're talking the aquifer up here within 1,000 feet of the surface. Mostly, in our area, I know the water table is at about 500 feet, maybe 200 feet, people are putting their…

Mr. President, today, we are in the midst of another rapid increase in the price of oil and gas at the pump faced by our constituents. Rather than address this issue in a positive manner, we are once again debating an amendment whose…

I am pleased to be joined by Senators Murkowski, Durbin, and Tom Udall in the introduction of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization. This legislation continues the important work of my former colleague Senator Gordon Smith…