Joe Barton: “I would agree with him in the short term that that is probably correct, that if we pass this bill and the other body…”

“I would agree with him in the short term that that is probably correct, that if we pass this bill and the other body passes this bill and the President signed it tomorrow, I think it is fair to say that the energy prices would not go immediately down. But I would dispute the assertion that over the long term there is no positive impact. I would offer the analogy of deciding whether to plant a field of corn. Obviously, the day you plant it you are not going to get an ear of corn to eat. But over time you are going to get bushels and bushels of corn to eat and to feed your family and to feed the world. Well, the same thing could be said about this energy bill. We have already passed it once in this body, 246 to 180. The reason that we are bringing it up again is because the other body has not seen fit to even bring it to a vote, and we are hopeful that if we pass it yet once again that at some point this summer the other body may see fit to at least bring it up to a vote. We need a comprehensive energy bill because gasoline prices are up, coal prices are up, natural gas prices are up, crude imports are up, refined product imports are up.”