Political Quotes

“I yield myself the balance of the time. Okay. Let's say it again: The gentleman's remarks would imply that, because there is increased oil production in this country, it's due to the actions of this administration. Nothing, Mr. Chairman, could be further from the truth, because it takes a while to go through the process of leasing and developing potential resources before you drill, and even then you don't know until you drill. All of that process started prior to this administration's taking office. It happened in the Bush administration, and as a matter of fact, it happened in the Clinton administration. That's where the increased production, in large part, came from. Even that isn't entirely true, because the increased production of American oil is really coming from State and private lands, not from Federal lands. In fact, over the last 2 years, Federal lands production has been down under this administration. It is principally because of North Dakota and West Texas that we are finding more production of American energy. By the way, Mr. Chairman, I think that's good--but why should we ignore the potential resources that we have on Federal lands and not allow that to produce our American energy? This amendment really does not help that process. All it does is add red tape to the process, so I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey).…”