Global Warming

Floor Speech

GLOBAL WARMING -- (Senate - June 05, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I just ask the distinguished assistant majority leader if he and the Democratic majority would agree to an amendment designed to help bring down the price of gasoline at the pump for the American consumer, and whether they would agree to allow us to file that amendment, debate that amendment on this bill, and then have an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor?

Mr. DURBIN. My response is that we are on another bill now, while we are waiting for cloture to ripen on the global warming bill. It is our intention to move directly into the debate that you have just indicated. We have to deal with energy pricing in America. If the Republican side is going to offer a good-faith policy amendment to deal with this issue, I am sure that will be appropriate.

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I take it from the answer of the assistant majority leader that his answer is no.

Mr. DURBIN. The answer is yes.

Mr. CORNYN. I take it that they would not allow us to offer an amendment on this bill that would be designed to bring down the price of gasoline at the pump by opening America's natural resources to development and production.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, time and time again we are told by the Republican side, if we could just drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, all of our prayers would be answered and gasoline would be $1.50 a gallon, people would stop complaining, and the American economy would be back on its feet. It turns out this idea of drilling for oil in ANWR is not the answer to our prayers. For many of us, it is somewhat blasphemous to think we would take a section of land that was set aside by President Eisenhower as a wildlife refuge and say that we are so desperate in America for oil that we are going to change it forever.

It strikes me that we have to look at the reality. Of all the oil reserves in the world, the United States has access in our boundaries, near our shores, to 3 percent of all the oil in the world. We consume 25 percent of the oil in the world. The Republicans believe we can drill our way out--drill in the Great Lakes, drill in the ANWR--and it will all be just fine. We know better. We have to take an honest look at this and realize that drilling in those places will not answer the need.

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