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We need to make energy security a priority of U.S. foreign policy. We can

[Page: S9572]  GPO's PDF

   Maybe most importantly, we have lots of resources domestically, and instead of making them more difficult to

   reach, we ought to make it easier. I come from a State that is 50-percent owned by the Federal Government. Of course, there are places such as Yellowstone Park and Teton Park where you are never going to do minerals and should not. Much of that land is Bureau of Land Management land that is not set aside for any particular purpose. It was there when the homestead stopped and was simply residual and became public land. It is more multiple use. We can protect the environment and continue to use it--whether it is for hiking, hunting, grazing, or whether indeed for mineral exploration and production, as we now do.

   This administration has made it difficult to do that. We can improve the regulatory process. I not only serve on the Energy Committee, but on the Environment and Public Works Committee. Constantly we are faced with new regulations that make it more difficult, particularly for small refineries, to live within the rules. Many times they just give it up and close those. We can change that. It depends on what we want to do with the policy. It depends on our goals and what we want to do with domestic production and whether or not these kinds of things contribute to the attainment of those goals. It is pretty clear that they don't.

   I think we can find ways to establish clear rules to have some nuclear plants that are safe, so they indeed can operate. They are very efficient. We talk about the environment. They are friendly to the environment. We need to do something. Of course, if we are going to do that, as they do in France and the Scandinavian countries, we can recycle the waste, or at least after a number of years we can have a waste storage at Yucca Mountain , NV. This administration has resisted that entirely, as have many Members on the other side of the aisle.

   So these are all things that could be done and are being talked about. We are talking about breaching dams. I think everybody wants to look for alternative sources. We ought to use wind and solar. But the fact is that those really generate now about 2 percent of the total usage that we have. Maybe they will do more one of these days. I hope they do. We have some of that in my State as well. As a matter of fact, my business built a building about 20 years ago, and we fixed it up with solar power. I have to admit it didn't work very well. It works better now, and we can continue to make it work better, but it is not the short-term answer to our energy problems.

   We can do something with ANWR. I have gone up to the North Slope of Alaska. You can see how they do the very careful extraction. You have to get the caribou out of the way. But you can see what is going on. That can be done. I am confident it can be done.

   Those are some of the things that are suggested and which I think ought to have real consideration. It is difficult sometimes to try to reconcile environmental issues. I don't know of anyone who doesn't want to do that. Environmental protection has to be considered, but it doesn't mean you have to do away with access.

   Quite frankly, one of the real problems we have in some States is how to use open spaces. We are doing something in my State about protecting the environment and protecting public land. Too many people say you just shouldn't use it for anything at all. When some States, such as Nevada and others, are up as high as 85 percent in Federal ownership, I can tell you it is impossible to have an economy in those States and take that attitude. On the other hand, I am persuaded that we can have reasonable kinds of programs that allow multiple use and at the same time protect the future use of those lands. It seems to me those are the kinds of things we ought to be doing.

   It is very difficult. It is certainly easy to set energy policy back, particularly when the price has gone up as it has. I think all of us remember a year or so ago when the price at the gas pump was down as low as 86 cents a gallon. Now in my State it is as high as $1.60. You think about it a lot more when it is $1.60 than when it is 86 cents. We didn't complain much about the producers then. But now we are pretty critical. We need a policy.

   That is the opportunity we have in this Congress--to really establish some of the byways and roadways to help us achieve a reduction on our dependency on foreign oil. We need to move toward changes in consumption and in the way we travel. I have no objection to that. The fact is, that is going to take time. The economy, the prosperity, and the security of this country depends a great deal on an ample and available energy source. It requires an energy policy. It requires the administration to step up to the plate and work with this Congress to continue to work to establish an energy policy.

   That is our task. That is our challenge. I think it is a necessary movement in order to continue to have freedom and economic prosperity.

   I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.

   The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

   Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

   The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. HUTCHISON). Without objection, it is so ordered.

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