[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9865-9868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 NOMINATION OF GENERAL MICHAEL V. HAYDEN TO THE POSITION OF GENERAL IN 
                           THE U.S. AIR FORCE

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to Executive Calendar No. 693, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of the following named 
officer for appointment in the United States Air Force to the grade 
indicated while assigned to a position of importance and responsibility 
under title 10, U.S.C., section 601:
  GEN Michael V. Hayden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the confirmation of the nomination of GEN Michael V. Hayden 
to the position of general in the United States Air Force.
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The President will be immediately notified of 
the Senate's action.
  Senator Nelson is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today as a voice to 
counter that of the giant multinational oil corporations. It has been 
during three decades of my public service that I have held fast to a 
promise to fight to keep big oil away from Florida's coastlines, to 
keep that industry from soiling our homes and from ruining our economy.
  In Florida, a clean, healthy environment is the infrastructure of our 
tourism-driven economy, and it is the source of sustenance for millions 
of residents and visitors alike. In America, where we have only 3 
percent of the world's oil reserves, our addiction to ``black gold'' 
will not be broken just by more drilling but by mounting an aggressive 
effort to fully exploit greater efficiencies in alternative fuels.
  As part of my promise to Florida, I have said that I could not 
support an Interior Secretary who would advance this administration's 
willingness to acquiesce to the oil lobby and its ever-increasing 
desire for greater profits beyond the recent record levels.
  Mr. President, I know this nominee is a person deserving of our 
respect. He is a gentleman. In fact, he will receive an overwhelming 
vote of support from the Senate. But I must stand on my principles to 
oppose this nomination. I do so for the future of Florida and for the 
future of our country.
  I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call has been waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on 
Executive Calendar No. 630, the nomination of Dirk Kempthorne, of 
Idaho, to be Secretary of the Interior shall be brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. Dole) and the Senator from South 
Dakota (Mr. Thune).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Dole) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) would have voted 
``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Conrad), the Senator from Hawaii 
(Mr. Inouye), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller), and the 
Senator from Colorado (Mr. Salazar) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 85, nays 8, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 161 Ex.]

                                YEAS--85

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                                NAYS--8

     Biden
     Clinton
     Dayton
     Harkin
     Kerry
     Mikulski
     Nelson (FL)
     Schumer

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Boxer
     Conrad
     Dole
     Inouye
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Thune
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 85, the nays are 8. 
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the 
affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I am not here to cast doubt on the 
qualifications of Governor Kempthorne to be the next Secretary of the 
Interior. In fact, I believe he is eminently qualified for the job. 
Unfortunately, that is also the problem. I fear that the Governor is 
all too qualified to take the helm of an agency that, in the past 5 
years, has drastically shifted its mission from one of conservation and 
protection, to one of exploitation and commercialism. Governor 
Kempthorne's record as a Senator, where he cast one vote in favor of 
the environment in six years, does not give me much hope that he will 
be able to reverse the trend.
  If we are to ensure that our grandchildren will be able to marvel at 
the majestic grandeur of this country's untouched wide open spaces, or 
learn of their Nation's heritage at our historic treasures, or observe 
the beauty of the astounding array of wildlife that roams the 
continent--it is essential that the next Secretary of the Interior 
recommits the Department to being a good steward of the land for all 
the people, and not a good server of it for the oil, mining, and timber 
companies. Given his consistently held positions for drilling in 
protected areas of the Arctic and off our coastlines, weakening the 
Endangered Species Act, and opposing the protection of roadless areas 
in National Forests, among others, I do not believe that Governor 
Kempthorne will make a change in the direction of the Interior 
Department.
  I want it to be clear that the real problem is not with the nominee. 
The real problem is with the policies of the

[[Page 9866]]

administration, and the willingness of the Secretary to carry them out 
without question. This administration has certainly been no friend to 
the environment, and the previous Secretary of the Interior was 
particularly adept at enabling its primary impulses. Whether it is in 
the waters off our beaches, in the sensitive lands of the Arctic, or 
the wild places of the West, the administration has consistently 
appeared to be working for the interests of the oil and gas companies 
first, and the interests of the public second. They have consistently 
pushed for opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. They have 
proposed opening the Mid-Atlantic to oil and gas drilling--barely 75 
miles off the coast of New Jersey. And, according to the Government 
Accountability Office, they more than tripled the number of drilling 
permits approved for the West--to the point where GAO found that the 
Bureau of Land Management was having trouble meeting its environmental 
responsibilities.
  The administration's disdain of public lands extends to the point 
that they have now proposed selling it off to fund other programs or 
reduce the deficit. To his credit, the Governor flatly stated that he 
did not approve of reducing the deficit this way, but he was not nearly 
as clear about whether he would use public land sales to fund other 
programs. The Governor should not treat our public lands as if they 
were an inventory that needed to be gotten rid of, but rather as an 
asset that needs to be protected and nurtured for future generations.
  In New Jersey, we don't have an overabundance of public land, which 
makes us value what we do have a great deal. Even in the most densely 
populated State in the Nation, we have a number of treasures valued by 
all New Jerseyans--the Pinelands, the Highlands, the Delaware Water 
Gap, our National Wildlife Refuges, our historic sites, and more. This 
is where we take our children to show them the beauty of nature, where 
we learn about our past, where we take our vacations, and where we 
welcome visitors from other States and other countries. But many of 
these would not exist without the help of the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund. The Fund has not only helped the Federal Government 
preserve these and other sites, it has also helped the State create 
parks, ballfields, and other recreation areas. Liberty State Park, a 
green oasis in the middle of the New Jersey metropolitan area, less 
than a half mile from Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, would 
still be a tangle of deserted railroad tracks if it wasn't for the help 
of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Unfortunately, the 
administration has been carrying on a multi-year assault on the fund, 
slicing it from $573 million in 2002 to $142 million this year, and 
proposing only $85 million for 2007. For the second straight year, they 
have proposed eliminating the State grant program entirely. This is not 
the way to run a program that is supposed to provide $900 million each 
year for land acquisition.
  I am also very concerned about the overall direction that the 
National Park Service has been moving in under this administration. 
First, the administration has inexplicably proposed rewriting the 
National Park Service's management policies to take away the clear 
mandate to preserve the parks for future generations. We have not 
gotten any satisfactory answers as to why they have proposed this, but 
it is completely at odds with my view of why we have national parks, 
which is to protect our natural treasures for our children and our 
grandchildren. But even if the policies are not rewritten, our parks 
are in danger of simply falling apart. The National Parks Service faces 
a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog, yet the administration has 
proposed slashing the account to fund that maintenance by over 30 
percent.
  This does not bode well for Ellis Island, where a large number of 
historic buildings are in danger of disappearing forever into crumbled 
brick because the National Park Service has been stalling for years 
instead of approving a redevelopment plan for the south side of the 
island. This part of the island belongs to New Jersey, and a dedicated 
nonprofit group has spent years raising millions of dollars to prepare 
for the rehabilitation of these structures, only to be thwarted by the 
National Park Service.
  Right next door, the Statue of Liberty has been held hostage by fear 
since 9/11. The pedestal has been reopened, but visitors are still 
forbidden from making the unforgettable climb up to her crown to look 
out onto the harbor. Just yesterday, the Senate passed the amendment, 
offered by Senator Schumer and myself, that would require the Secretary 
of the Interior to take the necessary security precautions and open the 
stairway to Lady Liberty's crown once more. There is no reason it 
should have taken this long to take the precautions necessary to ensure 
that the statue is safe to climb, and there is no reason any longer for 
it to be held hostage to fear.
  The National Park Service is not the only agency in the Interior 
Department facing crippling budget cuts that threaten its very mission. 
Wildlife refuges throughout New Jersey are going to be losing staff in 
the upcoming fiscal year; at least one refuge will be left without any 
staff at all. The largest of our refuges, Edwin B. Forsythe, is going 
to have to close one of its offices, and make due with only one law 
enforcement officer for its 47,000 acres. This doesn't just detract 
from the experience for visitors. It also makes it tougher to protect 
against vandalism, littering, and other activities that harm the tens 
of thousands of birds and mammals that depend on the refuge as a 
sanctuary in a highly urbanized region.
  This last point is extremely important. Making sure that wildlife has 
access to the habitat it needs to thrive is absolutely essential, 
particularly if endangered species are to survive. But right now the 
endangered species act is under attack. Last year, the other chamber 
passed a bill that would severely weaken a number of crucial 
protections under that Act, including the elimination of critical 
habitat. The Governor has a long record on endangered species issues, 
and much of it gives me great cause for concern. I hope that he will 
take a careful look at this issue and not simply endorse policies 
designed to protect developers first and endangered species second.
  I have just scratched the surface of the antienvironmental policies 
of the current administration. As I have limited myself to discussing 
the Department of the Interior, I have not mentioned the misguided 
policies designed to rollback the progress we have made in cleaning our 
air, our lakes, and our rivers, or the refusal of the administration to 
face the facts on global warming. We quite simply might never have the 
time to completely cover that ground. But Governor Kempthorne has 
demonstrated himself in the past to be aligned with the environmental 
philosophy of this administration, and therefore I cannot support his 
nomination as Secretary of Interior. I have no illusions, however. I am 
fully aware that he will be confirmed, and I hope that he proves me 
wrong. Because we are in danger of making mistakes that we can not 
easily correct. And we need to reaffirm our commitment to being good 
stewards of the land for future generations. As Theodore Roosevelt 
said: ``I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop 
and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the 
right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that 
come after us.'' I hope that the administration will take these words 
to heart.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I am pleased to be able to recognize the 
distinguished achievement of my friend and fellow Idahoan Dirk 
Kempthorne, who will be sworn in today as the 49th Secretary of the 
Interior of the United States. Throughout years of public service from 
mayor of Idaho's capitol, United States Senator, Governor, and now 
Interior Secretary, Dirk is a man of many accomplishments and is of the 
highest character and integrity.
  I have known Dirk since the 1980s when we both served the public in 
Idaho. As a matter of fact, I kind of owe my current job to him, as I 
won his seat when he left the Senate to go back to Idaho to become 
Governor.

[[Page 9867]]

  Dirk has dedicated his life to public service. From his time in the 
Idaho Department of Lands, as mayor, as Senator, and as Governor, he 
has always been recognized by those from both sides of the aisle for 
his tremendous leadership skills. He utilizes his thorough 
understanding of policy together with cultured consensus-building 
abilities to see the most effective policies carried out through 
legislation and governance. These qualities will serve the nation well 
as he takes on the many challenges facing the Department of the 
Interior in the 21st century.
  Through the diversity of his public service, especially as mayor and 
Governor, Dirk understands the real value of federalism, one that 
recognizes that the Government closest to the people is asked to do the 
most, often with fewest resources. His service as mayor taught him the 
lessons that ultimately led to his leadership in many relevant and 
important issues during his time in the Senate.
  A further reflection of that approach is his pioneering work on 
Endangered Species Act issues. In addition to taking his seat in the 
Senate, Dirk preceded me as chairman of the Environment Subcommittee 
with jurisdiction over species conservation. In that capacity, he led a 
bipartisan effort to update and improve our Nation's laws to better 
protect and promote the recovery of endangered and threatened species 
while recognizing the funding challenges. As Governor, Dirk kept up 
this beacon call and launched a successful public education initiative 
through the National Governors Association and Western Governors 
Association on the importance of ESA issues. Dirk is a respected 
national authority on resource issues and a promoter of collaborative 
decisionmaking to solve environmental conflicts.
  As Governor, he has also forged a strong working relationship with 
the five nationally recognized Native American tribes that reside in 
Idaho. Dirk recognizes the complexity of our trustee relationship with 
our tribes and has continuously sought to work cooperatively on matters 
that affect both the State and Native Americans.
  As chief steward of Idaho for the past 8 years, Dirk has vigorously 
championed innovation in environmental and natural resource sciences. 
Under his guidance, the State has taken a leadership role in applying 
scientific and technological innovation and research to the complex 
world of environmental and natural resource management. Dirk has also 
worked to advance the environmental mission of the Department of 
Energy's Idaho National Laboratory. He understands that Idaho's 
diversifying economy and unique resources require a dynamic mix of 
natural resource protection, appropriate rural economic development, 
and smooth integration of scientific advancements, educational 
research, and business know-how.
  Following the wildfires of 2000, Dirk worked with his fellow 
Governors and Federal officials to help bring a new approach to forest 
health and wildfire management. Under his leadership, Idaho has 
established effective and well-received wolf and grizzly bear 
management plans aimed at enhancing the State's responsibilities as 
Federal management is removed.
  There is no question in my mind that Dirk Kempthorne will make a 
superlative Secretary and establish a proud and esteemed legacy, and I 
congratulate him on this remarkable achievement and high honor.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, the position we are voting on, 
Secretary of the Interior Department, holds great importance for our 
country. The Department determines the fate of many of our public 
lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges. Of great 
importance to New Jersey, the Secretary of Interior determines what 
activities can take place on the Outer Continental Shelf. The Secretary 
of Interior implements critical laws like the Endangered Species Act, 
and administers some of our most important conservation programs like 
the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It should be a job for somebody 
who believes in protecting our nation's great natural heritage, not 
selling it off to the highest bidder.
  I served in the Senate with Governor Kempthorne, and we were members 
of the Environment and Public Works Committee at the same time. He is a 
skilled legislator and a congenial person, and I will vote to invoke 
cloture on his nomination, and for his confirmation. But I do want to 
take this opportunity to express some concerns about Governor 
Kempthorne's record on the environment, and about the Bush 
administration's record, as well.
  The League of Conservation Voters has given Governor Kempthorne a 
lifetime score of 1 percent, meaning he voted against the environment 
as judged by LCV 99 percent of the time. That does not give me great 
confidence on how he will address issues of preserving wilderness, 
protecting wildlife, or defending our coastal waters. Of course, these 
are areas where the administration has already compiled a poor record.
  I am also concerned about whether Governor Kempthorne will continue 
the pattern of pressuring scientists to alter their views to suit ill-
advised Bush administration policies.
  Last year, we learned that an administration official named Philip 
Cooney--an oil lobbyist before and after his White House stint--had 
altered scientific documents to change their conclusions about global 
warming. This year, we have seen numerous reports of Bush 
administration political appointees trying to intimidate and muzzle 
climate scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  Similar concerns have been raised at Interior-based agencies. Twenty 
percent of Interior scientists who answered a survey by the Union of 
Concerned Scientists responded that they had been ``directed to 
inappropriately exclude or alter technical information from a 
scientific document.'' Moreover, 44 percent of the respondents said 
that they have been ``directed, for non-scientific reasons, to refrain 
from making findings that are protective of species.''
  The Fish & Wildlife Service fired a whistleblower who exposed the 
Bush administration's use of flawed science to favor development 
projects over protecting habitat for the Florida Panther.
  This administration's contempt for science is deeply disturbing, and 
it would be a great disappointment if Governor Kempthorne were to 
continue to pursue policies based on ignoring, suppressing, or 
intimidating scientists.
  Our country is blessed with countless national treasures from coast 
to coast and, in my view, the Interior Secretary's most important job 
is to restore and preserve those treasures. Despite the serious 
reservations I have raised here, I will support this nomination in the 
hope that Governor Kempthorne will shift this administration's unwise 
policy emphasis on development over preservation, and I urge him to 
respect unfettered scientific inquiry in the agencies he will oversee.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am mindful of Wisconsin's historic 
dedication to conservation and am keenly aware of the legacy of Gaylord 
Nelson, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Sigurd Olson. My constituents 
regularly remind me of Wisconsin's environmental heritage and they 
expect their leaders to help build a positive environmental future.
  As the Secretary of the Interior, Governor Kempthorne will have the 
opportunity to chart a responsible course for managing our Nation's 
public lands--a course very different from the one that the American 
people have endured over the past 5 years. I am encouraged by Governor 
Kempthorne's reputation for collaboration and consensus. While Governor 
Kempthorne's environmental record does give me cause for concern, it 
has been my practice to defer to presidents in considering nominees for 
Cabinet positions. Consistent with that practice, I will vote to 
confirm this nominee.
  In his testimony before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 
Governor Kempthorne stated his belief that ``there is a no more 
beautiful cathedral than the outdoors.'' I will take Governor 
Kempthorne at his word and

[[Page 9868]]

hope that he will lead the Department of the Interior in a manner 
consistent with those words.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the vote on the nomination of Dirk Kempthorne, and following 
that vote that Senator Landrieu be recognized for 10 minutes, Senator 
Stevens for 10 minutes, Senator Reed for 10 minutes, to be followed by 
Senator Byrd.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination 
of Dirk Kempthorne, of Idaho, to be Secretary of the Interior?
  The nomination was confirmed.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. CRAIG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized for 
10 minutes.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I wish to speak about Governor 
Kempthorne's nomination, and now confirmation by this body, to be 
Secretary of the Interior, and I hope he will help us work through a 
compromise that has eluded this Nation for some 45 years.
  The Secretary of the Interior is in a pivotal position to help bring 
reason and rationale to this debate. I think that we, by confirming him 
this morning, have put the right man in the job for what is ahead.
  The Secretary of the Interior helps lead the debate and discussion 
about the Nation's energy policies. There are many facets of that 
policy, and it is multidimensional. It is one of the toughest issues 
faced by this Congress. Because it is so regional, it brings very 
passionate debate on both sides of the issue.
  I was pleased to cast my vote this morning for Governor Kempthorne, a 
former Member of this body, and a man who has shown a great deal of 
ability in terms of mediating very difficult issues. He showed that 
skill when he was a Member of the Senate, and I have no doubt that he 
will show the same skill as he becomes Secretary of the Department of 
the Interior.
  One of the issues on which I look forward to working with him and my 
colleagues is the issue I have spoken about so many times on the Senate 
floor relative to offshore oil and gas drilling, a balance, a 
partnership of mutual respect between the Gulf Coast States and the 
Nation regarding a partnership that is mutually beneficial.
  As the Nation struggles to find new ways to produce oil and gas using 
the great minds of this Nation and the great technology that has been 
developed; as the Nation needs so desperately more oil and more gas, 
particularly natural gas; with the prices so high so that supplies can 
be increased and, hopefully, demand can be reduced, prices can come 
down, prices can stabilize, and the entire economy, from the Midwest to 
the Northeast to the far West can benefit from that effort, I wanted to 
show a graph of what I am speaking about because I think a picture is 
worth a thousand words, and I know I only have a few more minutes. This 
is why I continue to come to the Senate floor to say that the gulf 
coast is America's only energy coast.
  This represents the miles and miles of pipeline, rigs, and 
infrastructure that have been developed in the Gulf of Mexico since the 
first well was drilled off of Creole, LA, in the gulf in the 1940s. By 
the way, that community was just completely wiped out in the last 
hurricanes, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. But right off of Creole, a 
tiny little community in southwest Louisiana, the first offshore oil 
platform was drilled. Subsequently, over decades this infrastructure 
has been built and it has been built better and better and stronger 
using better technology, and as a result this country has benefited 
significantly from this contribution.
  Another way to look at it is the oil and gas leasing that has 
occurred--which Secretary Kempthorne will now be responsible for, how 
these leases occur, where they occur, and when they occur. As you can 
see, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas have served as hosts to 
this industry, and we have served proudly. But there is a crisis now in 
the Gulf of Mexico, and it was brought to the televisions of every 
American--every American--with the landfall of Katrina and Rita and the 
subsequent flooding.
  This is the devastation that has occurred along the gulf coast, the 
flooding in the city of New Orleans and in communities throughout 
Louisiana, and the frightening and real erosion of America's only 
coastal wetlands the coastal wetlands of Louisiana. We have lost over a 
million square miles of wetlands, and we are losing 33 football fields 
a day. Thirty-three football fields a day are being lost in this great 
and extraordinary wetland.
  When people say: Senator, how are the beaches in Louisiana?
  I say: We don't have beaches in Louisiana. We love the beaches that 
are in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. We have vacationed on them 
our whole lives. But we have the greatest delta system in America, 
built over a million years by the Mississippi River itself, the land 
that we actually live on. On this land are great wetlands that supply 
fishing, that host and serve as the home of the mighty Mississippi 
River, and serve as a platform for oil and gas.
  As the Secretary will come to know, this oil and gas could not be 
retrieved or mined from the Gulf of Mexico without the partnership of 
these Gulf Coast States. So what we are asking for is fairness. We are 
asking for a percentage, a percentage in dollars, from this drilling to 
come back into this area and help us restore our wetlands and invest in 
the infrastructure necessary to protect this great coast so that we can 
provide our people with a bright and strong economic future.
  I am going to submit a longer statement for the Record. Again, I 
submit, looking at this chart, and just showing one more, that when we 
say the gulf coast is America's energy coast, these are the pipelines 
that come from the Gulf of Mexico. You can see even the Rocky 
Mountains. We are proud of the production that goes out West. We are 
proud of that production. But as you can see, a lot of our gas is 
coming from Canada and, hopefully, more of our gas will come from 
Alaska.
  I see my friend and colleague from Alaska, the senior Senator, on the 
Senate floor. We hope we can get more gas from Canada and from Alaska 
because we need it. But I want people to see where the gas is coming 
from. The gas is coming from Louisiana, and if you want more of it, 
then, No. 1, help us to save our State from washing away in the gulf; 
and, No. 2, help us to share in some of these revenues that will go 
right back into these communities to support the industry and the 
people and the schools and the churches and the towns that make this 
all possible. And, if not, then go find your gas somewhere else. I mean 
that. Go find it somewhere else because we have a lot of it down here. 
We are happy to give it, but we need some respect and cooperation on 
this point.
  The Senator from Alaska is here to speak, and I am going to be back 
later this afternoon to finish the remarks that I want to put in the 
Record. I see Secretary Kempthorne standing here. I appreciate him 
being on the floor to hear these remarks. I am looking forward to 
having him come to Louisiana. I said he is not much use to us with a 
broken foot, so he has to get that foot fixed and then come on back so 
we can take him out to offshore oil and gas rigs. He has promised to do 
that, and I am sure he will get up to Alaska sometime soon to see the 
great work that Alaska does. He, of course, is very familiar, having 
been the Governor of Idaho, with the West. But, Governor, we are 
looking forward to having you come down and visit us on the gulf coast.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________