Political Quotes

“I thank Mrs. Biggert and Mr. Gordon for their leadership. For 6 years, I have had the privilege of serving as the co-Chair in the House of the Renewable Energy Efficiency Caucus with Mark Udall of Colorado, which is over half of the House. They have a similar caucus in the Senate. There is widespread bipartisan support for these programs. I think it is so important that we do this. I want to say that one of the under-reported stories of the last 2 years is the impact of last year's energy bill, the final agreement. I didn't support the House bill, but I supported the final bill because the Senate made it so much better, advanced especially the production of ethanol. There are at least 41 new ethanol plants under construction across America today because alternative fuels is what we need to advance. Leadership cries out for us to do what we need to do for the next generation with respect to energy, regardless of what energy costs today. Some people think if it is $4 a gallon you have to make changes, but if it is $2 a gallon you don't need to. No, we need to. And leadership cries out for us to be aggressive. And I am a conservative. Sometimes conservatives forget we are supposed to conserve, to save, to be efficient. Plus our dependence on other sources of energy is causing our country to not be independent and to really be vulnerable. So this is a security issue. I think, frankly, if we don't do things like this we are being penny-wise and pound-foolish.”