I was back in Washington today, to continue the protest my colleagues and I began last Friday. Television cameras are still prohibited from entering the House chamber, the lights are still dim, and the microphones still off, but House Republicans are still speaking on the floor. We would all rather be home in our districts, but we know that we cannot give up this fight. This is about more than gas prices. This is about more than energy.
This is about America's economic and national security. Every dollar that we spend on foreign oil is a dollar that is not invested in American industry and American jobs. The airline industry, the auto industry, the tourism industry, and many other sectors are laying off workers by the thousands. Yet we continue to spend $1.2 billion a day on foreign oil, creating jobs for workers in the oil fields in Russia, Venezuela, Africa and the Middle East. If we developed our domestic resources we would create jobs here at home and could apply the proceeds toward the development of clean and renewable sources of energy.
It is troubling that the money we spend on foreign oil very often goes to people like Hugo Chavez and others in the Middle East who hate our nation and seek its destruction. Funding our enemies to the tune of billions of dollars a year is indefensible and dangerous.
I fully agree that we must wean our economy off fossil fuels and begin to depend on solar, wind, nuclear, and other alternatives as our primary energy sources. But, a robust economy is necessary for innovation - spending hundreds of billions on foreign oil, instead of here at home will hinder, rather than accelerate the development of alternatives. Furthermore, America will access our oil by cleaner, more ecologically conscious methods than the countries from which we are currently buying it.
The gravity of this issue cannot be overstated; it affects our economy and our security. It's not a Republican or a Democrat issue, it is an American issue. And so, we will be on the floor again tomorrow, continuing our efforts to bring forth a comprehensive energy plan.