Larry Combest: “5 years ago today, the costs of depending on foreign oil came due with our first downpayment on the gulf war. The House…”

“5 years ago today, the costs of depending on foreign oil came due with our first downpayment on the gulf war. The House voted $42 billion to pay the military costs of ejecting Saddam Hussein from his king-of-the-hill grab of Middle East oil supplies. Let us not make another multibillion-dollar investment to protect foreign oil. Let's at least take a fraction of that amount to ensure a ready domestic supply. America needs a floor price that investors can bank on, regulatory relief and tax incentives to get rigs and roughnecks back into the fields. As Intelligence Committee chairman, I say that our national security is just as threatened by our dependence on the unpredictable lifeline of foreign oil--as if we were to depend on another country for our daily bread. Today, America imports half of its crude oil--this is a national security threat that must not stand. Like our gulf war commanders, America must draw a line in the sand and say 50 percent dependence is enough--500,000 jobs lost is enough--and 5 years to focus on oil supplies here at home is more than enough.”