Providing for Consideration of H.R. 5819, SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5819, SBIR/STTR REAUTHORIZATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - April 23, 2008)

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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, we just heard an argument. That is okay. I can understand that people want to blame President Bush for things. But the fact of the matter is that the pressure on this issue comes directly to the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party that absolutely cuts America off from being energy independent. They are the people, not OPEC, that have caused America to have to go to OPEC to get our oil. And in the time when there is competition for this oil because we don't produce our own here in the United States, of course you're going to pay more money.

To blame this on George Bush, when in fact it is the Democratic Party that has shut off America from energy independence, from the ability that it has to go, just one case, to the Arctic Wildlife Reserve to be able to get millions and millions of barrels of oil that reside within our own United States. We are the ones, as a result of the Democratic Party, that have to go to OPEC to buy the fuel we need.

It is an absolutely ridiculous argument to blame George Bush when in fact it was Bill Clinton as President who vetoed the bill which would have given us millions of barrels of oil back in 1995, available to consumers today. It is the Democratic Party and the ability from the Speaker, the current Speaker of the House, Ms. Pelosi, to follow what we have with their public policy to make sure that Americans are paying more at the pump today. But you can't blame George Bush.

Let's put the blame where it really is, and that is America is not energy independent. We have to go to other places, we have to get oil, and the world wants the same thing from that marketplace. So rather than throwing insults at each other, why don't we do something about it.

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