Political Quotes

“while my distinguished colleague from Alabama is on the floor, I thank him for his leadership on this particular issue because it gives us that opportunity to act with meaningful solutions to problems everyone is feeling. So many things that we do here are issues that seem so macro, so big. I am sure when people are watching C-SPAN or television or they even read about what we do, they wonder, are those people up in Washington doing anything to address the issues that affect me, the squeeze that I feel, the cost of living that we know has to be addressed? Then you say, What are those things? Where is that squeeze coming from, despite the record low unemployment rate of 4.6 or 4.7 percent and the creation of 5 million jobs? It comes back again and again--those energy costs, filling up that gasoline tank, getting ready to go on vacation, or altering your vacation, or paying that heating bill, or this time of year that air conditioning bill. And it comes back to energy. Now we are acting and we are acting in a way that in the past has been stopped--and that is by looking right here at home at the good old American homegrown supply. Everybody knows that ultimately in the market-based system there is supply and demand. Now we are addressing supply directly, as my colleague mentioned, in a way that is very protective of our environment, of our coastlines, that is environmentally sensitive but in a way that we know will open as much as a million or more barrels.…”