Political Quotes

“My amendment represents a unique opportunity for this Senate, and indeed the entire Nation as a whole, to seek to determine if we cannot, as several coastal States, help our Nation in this dire need for additional sources of natural gas, and possibly, in some instances, States might elect to include oil, to meet the ever-looming resource crisis. I remember when the Energy bill which is now law was passed by the Senate. I stood at this very desk and I had an amendment very similar to the one which I am speaking about today. When that amendment was pushed to one side, I said I would stand here again, and here I am again today. But I understand--this is the 28th year I have been in the Senate--there are parliamentary means under the rules of the Senate to preclude Senators from offering amendments, and as such, I am being denied that opportunity. The bill before us today represents a step in the right direction-- and I commend those who have worked on it--to open access to more natural gas and oil in the Gulf of Mexico. However, I, like many others in this body, believe that more must be done because there is such a time lag between the potential passage of my amendment and the actual recovery of gas and oil from any of these moratorium states. We have to begin, and I had hoped on this bill I could mark that beginning.…”