[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 21856-21857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             BIPARTISANSHIP

  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I thank both the majority leader and 
minority leader for their comments this afternoon and for setting forth 
the tone of moving forward in a spirit of bipartisanship on behalf of 
our country. I want to quickly make four points.
  It is going to be very important for us in the weeks ahead, and in 
the new Congress, that we do find the seeds of bipartisanship which we 
have found in the past in many of the efforts that have gone on in this 
body. For me, during my first 2 years as a Senator, one of the things I 
will always remember as one of the best times of the Senate is when we 
came together with the Gang of 14, with 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats, 
to make sure that this Senate was able to get beyond the very difficult 
issue that it faced. I hope we find more and more of those 
opportunities as we move forward on the great issues of our time, 
including Iraq, energy, health care, and the rest of the issues with 
which we must deal as a country.
  I will say this as well. In the days ahead, we will hear many things 
about some of our colleagues, some of whom are newcomers to our 
institution, the U.S. Senate, and some of them who are leaving. For me, 
it is a sad day that Senator Chafee and Senator DeWine, who were 
members of the Gang of 14, will not be around to be a part of that 
future bipartisan coalition that we are going to have to have in the 
Senate. But I hope, on the side of both the Democrats and the 
Republicans, that there is a great number of Members of the Senate on 
both sides of the aisle who will come together to address those 
significant issues that face us as a country.
  As I spent my time in Colorado for most of the last month and 
traveled around the State, most of the people in my State were making 
one statement to us as a Congress and that was to get about the 
people's business. They want us to do the work that they so fervently 
want to be accomplished for this country. I believe in my State--which 
I believe is reflective of what is happening around the country--they 
want us to set a new direction and to be successful in our undertaking 
in Iraq. I join the minority leader, Senator Reid, in his comments 
about how we ought to move forward in trying to create a bipartisan 
approach to achieving success in Iraq.
  As I traveled around my State, and as I traveled around the country 
as well, I think the issue of energy independence has become an issue 
on which people very much want us to get beyond the rhetoric they have 
heard for the last 30 years. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was one of 
the few bipartisan efforts that ultimately succeeded in this Congress. 
I hope, as we move ahead on the issue of energy, we will find ways of 
embracing conservation, embracing renewable energy, embracing the new 
technologies of today so we can in fact get our hands on energy 
independence, which is so critical. It is critical for our Nation from 
the point of view of the national security of the United States of 
America and the world. It is critical for our Nation in terms of our 
economic security, and it is critical for our Nation in terms of the 
environmental security which is also at stake on the issue of energy. 
Finally, it is critical to our country as to how we provide new 
opportunities for rural America as we grow our way to energy 
independence in this country.

[[Page 21857]]

  Finally, I would like to make a comment on an issue which I believe 
continues to break the backs of the American people and bankrupt 
American businesses today and that is the issue of health care and the 
costs of health care, which have risen astronomically. We have left 
almost 50 million people of our country without health insurance, 
77,000 in my State of Colorado alone.
  I hope this institution, the Senate, working with the House of 
Representatives, can deliver real results for the people of the United 
States of America in the weeks and years ahead.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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