[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19424]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          A MISSED OPPORTUNITY

  (Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we had a great 
opportunity to put forward a bipartisan approach to solve this Nation's 
energy problems. Unfortunately, we didn't do that. We had a bill that 
arrived at the last minute to us with very little time to look over and 
no attempt to make sure that it included the best ideas on how to solve 
this Nation's energy problems.
  That opportunity was bypassed, and what we ended up with was a very 
narrowly banded bill that will not address this Nation's energy 
problems.
  That is reprehensible. We need to make sure that we have that 
opportunity. We have a bill that passed out of here yesterday that has 
already been said by Democrats in the Senate that it's dead on arrival 
and that it's going to be vetoed by the President.
  Why didn't this body take the opportunity to make sure that we 
adopted an energy policy that was going to be in the best long-term 
interest to this Nation, that had a chance of passing and that had a 
chance of making a difference in the gas prices of our men and women 
out there that their families have to deal with each and every day? 
That is reprehensible. We had a great opportunity yesterday that we 
missed, that we did not take advantage of, Mr. Speaker, and I tell you 
this Nation will suffer for it.

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