Thomas Daschle: “Our Nation's vulnerability to foreign energy production has been brought into bold relief by the continuing turmoil in…”

“Our Nation's vulnerability to foreign energy production has been brought into bold relief by the continuing turmoil in the Middle East. It is imperative that our Nation take greater strides to promote the use of domestic, renewable fuels as a means of reducing our dangerous dependence on imported oil and strengthening U.S. energy security. An aggressive program to produce and use more renewable fuel should be one of the pillars of our Nation's energy policy. And, as America uses more renewable fuel, we need to make sure that the financial soundness of the highway trust fund is not inadvertently undermined. That is why I strongly support Chairman Baucus' efforts to ensure that future use of ethanol will have no impact on the trust fund. I applaud his efforts in this regard and pledge to do whatever I can to see that we hold the highway trust fund harmless as we seek to make America more energy independent.”