Political Quotes

“if I can, I will give a little background and then we will go right to Senator Portman. I thank the Senator from Ohio. I appreciate it very much. The Presiding Officer understands very well. We are both from the same State, born and raised there, and tough times have always been a part of our DNA. So people know the history of the mines, as to the coal that has been produced, we would not be the country we are today, we would not be the superpower of the world, if we didn't have domestic energy in our backyard. Domestic energy was the coal we used to fuel the Industrial Revolution. We basically defended ourselves in every war with coal. It was so important during World War II that if you were a coal miner, you would be asked to be deferred from fighting in the war to provide the energy the country needed to defend itself. That is how important this product has been. Today it is kind of taboo to talk about it. People don't understand we have the life we have because of it. There is a transition going on and we understand that, but, in 1946, President Harry Truman said that we can't have the miners go on strike. John L. Lewis was going to take the miners out on strike for unfair compensation and safety reasons. Harry Truman promised them if they would stay--it was so important for our economy after World War II to keep moving forward, and without the energy, we couldn't do it.…”