Senate Proceeding on Mar 19th, 2009 :: 2:34:15 to 2:48:40
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2:34:12 to 2:34:33( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: and scott miller, who has worked very hard on the forest issues involved with i yield the mr. coburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: just a few observations before we start. it has been a long process on this bill and i appreciate the patience of the chairman of the committee.

2:34:15 to 2:48:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Tom Coburn

2:34:34 to 2:34:55( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: he has been a gentleman to work with at all times and fair in his discussions. i also might note for the senate that over 70 of these votes could have gone by unanimous consent. but because we chose to have a procedure where up until n over the last two years no amendments were ever allowed to

2:34:56 to 2:35:16( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: be offered on any of these bills. none. it was never an option. we have taken approximately seven weeks on something that we could have done on two weeks if we had an open like the senate's supposed to have. so we find ourselves ping ponging back between the house and senate because we want to avoid the very purpose that

2:35:17 to 2:35:37( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: we're here for, which is open debate and amendment. so it should be a lesson to us is the american people win when there's a debate. they lose when we use unanimous consent to pass something that is and to say it's not, the average amendment that's we got were 31 that's a -- that's almost one-third of the senate.

2:35:38 to 2:36:00( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: so to say that we should pass things by unanimous consent when one-third of the senate does not agree would say that there is a great lesson for us and let's open up, let's have a debate and put a short period of time on it and let's use procedures to, fact, get a debate for the american people.

2:36:01 to 2:36:21( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: iould also say in look at this bill: what have we done? there's a lot of good things in this. i'm not opposed bill. half of this bill i'm adamantly opposed. i was thinking as we recognized the democratictaff, who is recognizing the american people

2:36:22 to 2:36:42( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: rather than parochial interest? what staff worked on that? we worked on this and we rejected transparency for the american people. we rejected the ability to know what we have and how to deal with it and how to manage it. we said, no, by a vote of this party, we're not going to do that. we like the

2:36:43 to 2:37:05( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: of accountability, the lack of transparency that go to the american people. we rejected eliminating earmarks. ev that amendment. even though the president says this is something --nd the american people say that's not the way that they want the business. but we've rejected it. we've rejected significant amounts of potential renewable

2:37:06 to 2:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: energy. 90% of all geothermal potential renewable clean energy is risk by what we're doing. i know that is disputable, but own secretary of the interior this week said that we should not put the cart before the horse. we should have good planning on where we're going with

2:37:28 to 2:37:50( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: transmission lines, the gridz and everything -- grids and everything else so we can take geothermal. but, yet, we've rejected that. we've rejected prioritizing the needs of our national parks. that's what the senate has done this week. we'v to do that. if we want to do something new,

2:37:51 to 2:38:11( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: even though we have between $12 -- 12 billion to 15 billion in backlogs. we have significant health and safety risks for our employees and the employees vis -- and those we've done exactly the opposite of what the average american would be doing with our own --

2:38:12 to 2:38:33( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: their own assets. the other thing we've taken a large amount of oil and natural gas and said: you can never touch it again. of the 80 you put in here, 35 of them under the wilderness study

2:38:34 to 2:38:54( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: said they should never be put into wilderness and you all put them into the wilderness anyway. the whole project of having a wilderness study area is to use the area should be wilderness. not counting colorado or utah, you put 448,000 acres into wilderness that the study area

2:38:55 to 2:39:15( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: says should never go into wilderness areas because they have significant oil, gas, and other potentials. we rejected by process by which we do it because parochial interests have taken and trumped over the national energy needs of this country and that doesn't count colorado and utah has a significant area.

2:39:16 to 2:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: so of the land you've taken away and said forever, we're never going to touch, we're never going to utilize the natural resources -- natural resources that this country could utilize when we're sending $400 billion a year overseas for carbon-based energy which we're going to do for the next 20

2:39:37 to 2:39:58( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: wh you've said never. and, as i said earlier, you've taken clean renewables. we don't know what the percentage is. but a significant geothermal for sure. a bill is going to be introduced that will take several hun thousand acr out of the california decent by the senator from california, which is prime land for solar.

2:39:59 to 2:40:20( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: it is getting rea introduced so that can never be touched. we have to have energy. and we're we have. we're putting into wildernes area assets that have significant energy in them. we're ignoring the process under which we said we would make those determinations wellstone

2:40:21 to 2:40:41( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: over 35 of the 80 -- 35 when 85 of the 80 were wilderness areas. somewhere the common sense? maybe we the ought to look and say if we're going to go to a renewable portfolio totally of ener is it going to take us to get there and what do we need

2:40:42 to 2:41:06( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: between now and then to do that? we are not making good, long-term decisions with this bill. we are handicapping ourselves, and we're telling the middle east, go ahead and jack it up. because we're going to limit our options with which we can balance energy needs in this country b

2:41:07 to 2:41:28( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: this bill. and i've lost my piece of paper. finally, we have said in this bill that eminent domain is going to be utilized.

2:41:29 to 2:41:50( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: we say we're not going to do it. but we've certainly said, american landowner, if we're there, and we decide we want to do something, we're going to keep that. and the fact is that it is one of the most painful things that occurs to an american citizen in this country is when your land, without

2:41:51 to 2:42:11( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: though you're paid an equitable price for it, is taken from you. and we've said, that's fine. we rejected that. 35 senators voted to not reject it. but 60-some voted to reject it. so let me we like our earmarks.

2:42:12 to 2:42:32( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: we don't want to think long term on energy. we reject policies that say that we shouldn't put things into builderness areas, but we do it -- wilderness areas, but we do it anyway. we've taken away the ability to handle the which is coming. whh is we told the american people that

2:42:33 to 2:42:53( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: we keep eminent doesn't matter if you need property, we're going to take it. and, brides all of that, we have -- brides all of that, we -- besides all of that, we have more land area in this country than we have developed land. there is 11 million acres of wilderness and only 106 million acres of developed land.

2:42:54 to 2:43:15( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: when do we have enough? when do we stop tying our arm behind our back in terms of energy, whether it is renewable or carbon based? ouldn't leave all options on the table for us needs for the future whether it is green energy or traditional energy.

2:43:16 to 2:43:36( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: why would we send that signal to the rest of the world and why would we do that to the american taxpayer? at's going to happen on energy prices in this country is natural gas is going to double in the next two years. and it is going to double for a couple of reasons. one is because they can't afford to drill for it right now at $4.

2:43:37 to 2:43:58( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: number 13 billion cubic feet that we know of in one area, just in this bill, you said we could never touch. it's proven. we know it is there. it is easy to get out. we don't have to do a lot more drilling. but you can't have it. we've taken 300 million barrels of oil in that same range and said, america, you can't have it. we know it's there.

2:43:59 to 2:44:19( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: it's not hard to get o. you can't have i and that's just in one of the ranges that we're setting off side and not making available to the american public to lower their energy cost is to balance the supply-demand imbalance we're going to see in the future. the other thing that i think is

2:44:20 to 2:44:40( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: important -- the oth that i think is important is th this bill was put together by combining what individuals wanteddor their state some of the land water rights, i know it's complicated issues, i know that the exchanges are hard. i know protecting things right way is important. i know it is important to the senator from ohio, alaska and

2:44:41 to 2:45:02( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: the but when does the best benefit for the american people start trumping things around here instead of what we want pa rockily. i think -- a rockially. i think that we have attention deficit. i think that we need to be in a 12-step program to correct it.

2:45:03 to 2:45:24( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: and then i think that hyper that what is important is most important in my state be danged what happens to the rest of the country and what our country is going to fail on the we're failing a lot of of it is our fault. but what we're going to fail on is when we start thinking more about individual states than we

2:45:25 to 2:45:45( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: do the best long-term benefit for the country. and this bill is a classic example where we put parochial interests ahead of the long-term interestof the country. and to me, i worry about the grandchildren of this country. this is a $11 billion bill, $900 million in mandatory spending,

2:45:46 to 2:46:09( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: when we have all these things that we need to do that are much higher priority and we're going to do this now. i'm disappointed in us because we don't think long term, that we think short term. and it is beneath the oath that we take that we continue to do that.

2:46:10 to 2:46:30( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: i want to be proud of what we do and i want us to be above the influence of any short term, any parochial or any political decision. the people in this body know me, that i go after republican projects as much as democrats. i go on the basis of what i think is in the best long-term --

2:46:31 to 2:46:51( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: that's not to say you don't too, but as a collective body, wve not been doing it. and we're not going to fix the real problem in our country, which is the economy. it is amazing to me that we're spending time on this bill instead of fixing the economic problems of this country. that we're setting here and we've spent a total of seven weeks in the last three or four months on this bill rather than

2:46:52 to 2:47:13( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: working on the real problems and the real needs of this country. the long-term future of our country is at great risk today, and i'm not just talking economically. when we choose to protect home -- ie. state or city or

2:47:14 to 2:47:34( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: earmark or benefit -- at the expense of the long-term interests of the country, we won't last. and what has made this country great throughout its years is we've had leaders that have said said, heck with my position, what's best for the country should come first. and the irony of that -- and

2:47:35 to 2:47:55( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: it's really paradoxical. when -- when people see that, we restore confidence. when they see the opposite of that, they lose confidence in us us. and we ought to be about restoring the american people's confidence. they're rattled tod they're rattled over the economy. they're rattled over their confidence in us. and we ought to be about restoring that.

2:47:56 to 2:48:17( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: i don't tnk this bill does that. i appreciate the patience of my colleagues. i have great respect for you. i know your senior desires. but i -- i know your sincere desires. but i truly think that we need some coaxing to get our eye back on the ball. with that, i'd yield the floor, and i understand we're not going to vote until 12:20, and would

2:48:18 to 2:48:31( Edit History Discussion )

Tom Coburn: ask that we note -- note that there's an absence of a quorum. th will call the roll.