[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19346]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          SUBJECTS TO CONSIDER

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I have three subjects I think we need to 
talk about during the August recess. I want to touch on each one.
  The Senator from Arizona has already touched on the health care issue 
that is out there. I don't think Arizona and Virginia are all that 
different from my State of Oklahoma. That is all people talk about when 
I go back. They want to know: Am I really going to have a government 
bureaucrat standing between me and my health provider? So those are 
huge issues. I never thought we would be dealing with that in this 
country, but we are.
  What I want to pursue is, I get very upset when I hear people on the 
other side of the aisle say we have to do something to stop our 
dependency on the Middle East for our ability to run this machine 
called America. Here are a couple. Many people don't want to drill, 
don't want oil, gas, nuclear, or coal--they don't want all these 
things. If you don't want them, how do you keep the machine going? The 
answer is that you cannot. The day will come when maybe wind energy or 
solar energy or renewables will take care of our needs, but that is 
down the road. That will be 30, 40, 50 years from now. In the meantime, 
we have to produce the energy to run this machine called America.
  One of the things is a little bit technical, but I think that since 
it is looming out there, it needs to be talked about. Of course, I am 
sensitive to this issue, being from Oklahoma, which is an oil State; we 
produce oil. I have looked at one of our systems that is used to get 
the most oil and gas out of oil.
  At this point, I will yield to the Republican leader, and then I will 
continue my remarks.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Oklahoma. I will 
be brief. I appreciate the opportunity to work in my comments. Thank 
you so much.

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