Political Quotes

“I oppose the previous question so that we can, instead, consider the American Energy Independence from Russia Act. In recent weeks, we have all seen Europe struggle to navigate its dependence on Russian energy. It is terrible to be beholden to, to be dependent on an adversary. And so, like so many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I pushed to ban Russian energy imports into this country, and I am grateful that we have done that. But rather than look to other countries to fill that gap, we should be looking here at home. The resources that we need for energy security are already located right here. Now, yes, of course, renewables will play an important role, but so will North American oil and gas. The President made a terrible decision on day one to cancel the Keystone XL project. But this bill will move us back in the right direction by, once again, allowing the permitting and the leasing of oil, gas, and mineral development on Federal lands and waters. Developing a plan for that energy security, which this bill would also do, to better utilize North American oil and gas, it would reduce prices; it would increase energy security; and it would increase national security as a result. Now, of course my colleague on the other side of the aisle is right. Passing this bill would not reduce energy prices overnight. But the reality is, the second best time to plant a tree is today.…”