John Thune: “this last year, Americans sent almost half a trillion dollars, almost $500 billion, overseas to purchase imported oil…”

“this last year, Americans sent almost half a trillion dollars, almost $500 billion, overseas to purchase imported oil from other countries around the world. Think about that massive transfer of wealth and what that means for our national security because, in many respects, a lot of those dollars being used to purchase imported fuels are going to countries that are not favorable toward the United States. Of course, some say it is a world market, let the market work. The difference is that most of our trading partners around the world are people we consider to be at least friends, allies, folks we do business with. They are not countries that are funding organizations that are trying to kill Americans. Regrettably, what we end up doing is funding both sides of the war on terror, because we send almost half a trillion dollars annually to foreign countries, petro dictators around the world who use those dollars to fund terrorist organizations that are designed to kill Americans, and then we end up having, of course, to fund our military to go fight the very same terrorists. It seems like a very misguided policy. I make that point because I think we have a dangerous dependence on foreign energy. Today, 65 percent of our petroleum comes from outside of the United States.”