John Thune: “the problem is, we have to do something because the administration, by their own admission, has been caught napping and…”

“the problem is, we have to do something because the administration, by their own admission, has been caught napping and they are still napping. And the people of this country and the people of South Dakota cannot afford to wait until the alarm clock goes off. We have farmers and ranchers who are going to be going into the field to plant. We have tourism season coming on in our State, and we have people who travel a long distance between points to get to their destinations. There is no place that is more dependent upon a reliable energy supply than is my State of South Dakota. The administration has failed in the past. They are currently failing and that is why Congress needs to act. This legislation sends OPEC a very loud and clear message that time and time again we have come to their defense and it is high time for those nations to do what is right, to recognize the past support of the United States and to stop manipulating the supply of the world's oil. This legislation is an important first step. It calls upon the administration to take strong measures to see that if there is price-fixing going on, that arms sales and other sales, economic and political measures, are taken to stop the abuse of the oil prices and oil supply crisis.”