[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          OIL AND GAS EXPORTS

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I couldn't help overhearing my friend from 
Massachusetts talking about something really good that is going to 
happen; that is, we are going to lift the caps off our exports on oil 
and gas.
  I just can't understand why we ever had caps on exports. It seems 
like this administration is perfectly willing not just to approve of 
but to encourage countries like Iran and Russia to export their oil and 
help them and yet preclude us from doing the same thing. Right now one 
of the problems we have with Russia is they have a hand up on us 
because there are so many countries over there dependent on them for 
their ability to have energy. It is just pretty amazing that is going 
on.
  So I am really glad. Hopefully, this will go through. I know in my 
State of Oklahoma it has cost literally hundreds of jobs in just three 
companies because they could no longer afford to drill here.
  That is a big issue. I remember I was invited to Lithuania back when 
the President of Lithuania wanted to dedicate and open their first 
terminal so that they would be able to import gas and oil, some of that 
being from us. Everyone there was so joyous of the fact that they were 
not going to have to rely on Russia any longer, that they could rely 
more on us. We do have friends out there whom we want to be able to 
take care of.

                          ____________________