The Senate is convened.

• Today --
  • We will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 3268.
  • There will be a security briefing this afternoon from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM.
  • Tomorrow we will have a moment of silence at 3:40 PM, Senators are expected to be in chambers and at their desks for that moment.
  • The House will probably vote on the Housing Bill around lunch.
• Spoke on housing.
  • SUMMARY "i'm happy to report to everyone, mr. president, that the bush administration has reversed its veto threat on this legislation. that's really good news, good news for the american people. but we still see even in today's press there are some republican senators threatening to delay and possibly derail this legislation"
• Spoke on the Omnibus of Bills with Holds.
  • SUMMARY "i would hope that people don't look at this as taking away senators' rights. this doesn't take away senators' rights. i saw in this morning's press one senator said, well, i don't like to start taking away senators' rights. well, mr. president, in fact, it's just the opposite."
• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i've heard the statements on other bills we offered. we have offered more than one amendment works we've spent days debating this. mr. president, we are where we are, here. we will be out of session, hopefully, by a week from friday, so we don't have three weeks on this energy bill and we can't do everything that needs to be done with energy but it would seem to me if we did something about speculation and solve the domestic production problem as the republicans have said they wanted to do -- we will vote on their issue and we will vote on ours."
• Propounded a UC that post-cloture time be drawn back, that only one amendment on each side be in order, and that each amendment be subject to a 60 vote threshold. (McConnell objected)

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "with all due respect to my friend from nevada, to deal with the biggest issue in the country with a couple of amendments is not consistent with the traditions of the senate not even consistent with the traditions of this current senate led by my good friend from nevada. last year's energy bill we had 15 days on the floor."
  • SUMMARY "i think dealing with it in a dismissive fashion or trying to deal only with a small portion of it, really that doesn't pass the threshhold of credibility"
• Propounded a UC that when the Senate proceeds to S. 3268, that only relevant amendments be in order and that they be considered in an alternating fashion from each side, and that S. 3268 only be displaced by privaleged measures. (Reid objected)

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "we should resolve: number one, all experts with rare exceptions say the runup in prices is caused by speculation. 20% to 350%. 350%. the american people could stand a break at the pump. we passed amendments speculation speculation. say it is the only number, we only lessen gas prices by 20%. that is significant."
  • SUMMARY "strategic petroleum reserve and start drawing oil out of that. his dad did that and it lowered prices 10% to 15% so we have speculation, minimum, at 20%, and then 10%, and that's 30%. that is a significant debate"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "the majority leader said voting on more than one amendment per this is almost laughable, voting on more than one amendment per side on the number one domestic issue facing our nation is unreasonable. let me repeat, our friends on the other side are saying having a real debate that considering good ideas from all sides is just too much for the senate too handle."
  • SUMMARY "if bad actors are out there, we'd like to find them by putting more cops on the beat and by bringing greater transparency to the market. but we don't claim that this provision alone will solve the problem. no serious person would claim that. the other side has made the astonishing claim that the speculation provision alone will lower the price of gas by 20% to 50%."

• Posed a question.
  • SUMMARY "shouldn't we at least take up the issue of whether or not the restrictions which have been placed on the ability to use oil shale, which restrictions have been authored by the democratic party, shouldn't an amendment on that issue be allowed as well as an amendment on drilling in the outer continental shelf?"

• Responded
  • SUMMARY "i mean, that moratorium was just installed by this new majority just last year to shut down this promising new source that we have right here in our country."

• Spoke on procedure.
  • SUMMARY "rather than simply having two party positions, neither of which could win 60 votes, would fail and, therefore, we'd end up with nothing. what the minority leader is suggesting is a process by which both democrats and republicans could offer ideas, pieces of the puzzle, as it were, that could appeal to members on both sides in such a way that a bill could eventually be built and pass that could do something about the high energy prices."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "if we're entreating the subject of energy in a credible way, consistent with senate traditions, in 2005 when it wasn't the number-one issue in the country and in 2007 when it wasn't the number-one issue in the country, my thought is why in the world would we be trying to do something less than that, something that doesn't give all senators, many of whom have good ideas to propose on both sides of the aisle an opportunity to craft a proposal that gets at the number-one issue in the country"

• Spoke on nuclear power.
  • SUMMARY "isn't it also likely that we could probably have a bipartisan amendment on the issue of how we bring more nuclear power on line, and shouldn't that be considered part of any energy solution because it addresses the environmental concerns which the democratic leader spoke of so well relative to making sure that we have clean energy. and so shouldn't that also be part of any package like this?"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "the majority leader, cares deeply about. he brought up in the senate a climate change measure back in the first week of june, something he obviously felt was important. we spent a number of days on it. many people feel that nuclear power is one of the best solutions to the climate change issue, an entirely relevant subject to energy, and would have been permitted under the consent agreement that i offered earlier."

• Spoke on a markup cancelation.
  • SUMMARY "is the leader aware that the markup for thursday was canceled? it was canceled because the which has the moratorium against offshore drilling and shale production, is in that bill and there was going to be an amendment offered by myself and senator domenici and senator bond to take that moratorium off"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i was surprised that the meeting was canceled and the rationale was precisely what the senator from texas suggests, the avoidance of having to vote on the question of offshore drilling."

• Spoke on oil exploration.
  • SUMMARY "i would just say we have this opportunity on the floor right now to work all weekend with amendments deciding what the majority of this senate wants to do and we have something that is an opportunity that i hope we will take and that is to let the american people see the debate and let the american people decide if we have some proposals that would increase production and would that, in fact, bring down the price of oil and the gasoline at the pump right now."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i believe the appropriations process was used last year to put a moratorium ongoing forward with the development of oil shale much of which is found in the state of utah. i see our friend from utah here. it is not at all inappropriate, it strikes me, for the appropriations process to consider the other side of the equation which is to actually provide additional domestic production."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "we say, okay, let's have a vote on drilling and they say no, we don't want to vote on drilling, we want the open amendment process which is a buzzword for "folks, we resident going to do anything." they wanted to vote on shale -- i thought that would be part of the amendment. they want a vote on shale? we will give them a vote on shale. want to vote on nuclear? limit the time on those three amendments -- happy to do that."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i ask the majority leader $we say to the republican side, you can offer your own version of the speculation amendment. you can strike ours. offer yours. but we are giving you the opportunity to offer your amendment in your terms with your substantive suggestions and we will vote on each one of them, is that the offer that is on the table to the republicans?"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "the republican leader, said no serious person has suggested that speculation has anything to do with the price runup. talk about a serious person. let me give you this example. glen tilten is running a company that we have all heard of -- united airlines. united airlines is trying to hang on without going bankrupt. now, is this just some corporate executive that has an idea that the price of oil is too high? he also, mr. president, he also was formally the president of texaco and formally the vice chairman of chevron"

• Spoke on procedure.
  • SUMMARY "if i did the simple math of 28 republican amendments to start with two days ago, there is no way in ten days we could finish this debate on the energy bill before the august recess. i ask the majority leader: does the math work in terms of opening this up to as many amendments as people can dream up and actually finishing within ten days?"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "that's what they want. in the process, housing is gone. it's a casualty. the alzheimer's -- lou gehrig's registry is gone. the reeves paralysis bill is gone. we don't do anything about liheap to help the disabled and the old people in country who are going to freeze this winter. we do nothing about renewables. but this would be in keeping with the 83 filibusters that have taken so much time"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "it is amazing to me that after 32 years in the senate they want to bring up a bill that will allow their bill and one substitute amendment that they know would fail. where there are components of that substitute amendment that will pass, that they know will pass and will help us to find some oil and alleviate some of the pressures we have in this country. i wish to address the legislation under consideration, the speculator bill. here we are the congress facing a national energy crisis, a crisis that affects every single american, america's economy and america's place in the world and this is the best we can do, the speculator bill? this is our answer, another proposal that will not produce one drop of oil or hardly any energy? it won't produce any energy."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "we understand we have to reduce demand as well as increase supply but the other side is stuck on using only half of the law of supply and demand because they have forgotten economics 101. we say offshore drilling. they say no, we can't. we say more oil shale, and they say, no we can't. we say five or six new nuclear power plant as year to have clean electricity for our plug-in cars and trucks and they say, no, we can't. we say, bring up gas prices and put it on the senate floor and stay here. let's stay here until we finish. i have heard all the talk about the legislative calendar. that is not more important than the family budget."

• Spoke on the canceled markup.
  • SUMMARY "we would have given the appropriations committee a chance to reverse the blocking of america from new oil supplies. i suppose they were afraid we would win. that is why they canceled the meeting. how undemocratic can you get? are they afraid to lose a vote? cancel the vote. we have been struggling all year with democrats blocking republicans from offering amendments on the senate floor. democrats are saying, currently, they will block republicans from offering amendments to lower gas prices by increasing oil production. afraid to vote on the floor? block the votes. cancel the vote. block the vote. what's next? will democrats try to disbands disband the senate? or have the majority leader act as a rules committee so only what he says can be voted on in the floor? that is not the way the senate acts. why is it so hard? why are democrats so desperate to deny the relief the american people need?"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "unfortunately, it seems like there are some who want to continue to focus on this current crisis by saying that we should continue with big oil's top priority, and that is lifting the moratorium on outer continental shelf drilling. prodrilling advocates, and certainly the president of the united states, seem perfectly comfortable perpetuating what i think is a cruel hoax on the american people, saying that drilling will lower the price and somehow lower our demand on foreign oil."
  • SUMMARY "the world price is always going to be set by others and leaving a critical aspect of our economy in the hands of opec. so as long as we use a quarterer of the world's oil and have less than 2% of the world's oil reserves, facts that no amount of drilling can change, our country is vulnerable."
  • SUMMARY "the solutions i just talked about are solutions we can do now. they are near term, things that help us on energy efficiency"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i believe it is not only appropriate but important for us to be focusing on the issue of speculation separate from the larger issues that confront us in our energy policies as a way to address the most serious problem and the most fixable problem as it relates to the high price of oil and the high price of gas that we're seeing right now"
  • SUMMARY "i, like many on this side of the aisle would like to see a comprehensive package, comprehensive strategy that addresses all of our assets and all assets we can bring to this issue in the future. this simply isn't the right time. you can't do this with a series of amendments -- whether it's for another week or another two weeks. you can only do that with another serious consideration of a piece of legislation that addresses all these different areas."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "people would like at the safety net between available production and demand and say that net is high enough that question keep the price of oil pretty close to the price of producing it. and for years and years and years, the price of oil was around $7, $8, $9, $10 a barrel because that's what it cost to produce. and the safety margin between the available sources of supply and demand was very, very large. "
  • SUMMARY "this talk about speculation being the problem is nonsense. the problem is supply and demand. the gas price reduction act is the logical way to deal with supply and demand. get america back in the game, change the expectations, bring down the price of oil"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "it's crucial, mr. president, that we attack this problem head on. and that's why i am hopeful we're going to act in a meaningful, broad based way here on the senate floor. i urge all of my colleagues, democrats and republicans, to come together to bring every good idea they have related to gasoline prices and energy to this debate so that we can fact that a broad-based and meaningful way. and not just talk and not just debate and certainly not point fingers and be partisan, but come together and act for the good of the american people."
• Propounded a UC that when the Senate proceeds to S. 3268, that only energy relevant amendments be in order and that they be considered in an alternating fashion from each side, and that S. 3268 only be displaced by privaleged measures. (Brown objected)

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "this bill only deals with the issue of oil speculation. it doesn't deal with the issue of supply and demand. it does not deal with the need to encourage conservation. it does not deal with the extension of important tax credits to promote renewable energy. instead the bill seeks to extend the long arm of the law to reach out an strike down those speculators who are supposedly driving the price of oil faster and higher than a rocket ship."
  • SUMMARY "cities like dubai, countries like india and china, those are the places that would benefit from this bill. they would benefit because many of the jobs that would be in new york or chicago, jobs that are currently american, would no longer be. i'm the ranking member of the senate committee that handles pension, so let's get back to the people who have pensions and how this bill impacts them. these people are the employees of most of the largest companies and include airline, trucking, automotive, manufacturing, education, and public civil servant employees. this bill would hurt them. i'm alarmed the bill could declare portions of our financial markets off limits to institutional investors including pension funds endowments and foundations."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "if they think that is going to win over the hearts and minds of the american people, they've got another thing coming. the people i report to don't like opportunists, they don't like snake oil salesmen, they don't like unbridled greed. big oil has 68 million acres directly or indirectly of leased federal lands that they're not even drilling in. that's 2 1/2 times the size of my state of ohio. but somehow to big oil, that isn't enough. somehow record profits aren't enough. somehow executives making tens of millions of dollars every year isn't enough"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "we are not at a point in time where the technology has been developed for us to move forward to the development of oil shale. so anyone that would say that this is a panacea to the oil shale challenges that we face or to the oil challenges that we face in america today is simply wrong. the oil companies themselves have said that we're not ready to move forward with a commercial oil shale leasing program at this point in time."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "but what is missing? what have we not addressed that would make a difference? increased production, that's what. by refusing to pass any bill that would produce any more energy inside our country, we are left to wonder: do our colleagues really want to bring down costs, do they really understand the plight of the american people?"
  • SUMMARY "for those who say we can't drill our way out of the energy problem, i agree, we can't drill our way out of it. but drilling should be part of the solution. the oil and gas that we have in places like the o.c.s. can be used as a bridge to cross into the next generation of energy technologies, including solar power, wind, and nuclear power"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "what the people of the united states need and what our nation deserves is a comprehensive, long-term plan for domestic exploration, conservation, and the introduction of renewable and alternative fuels into the energy marketplace. and that's why i hope we can have an open amendment process on this legislation to allow an open debate in the senate about this"
  • SUMMARY "we should not leave washington for the annual august work period without passing energy legislation that will make a true difference for the american people. there is no more important action that this body should be taking than to address this issue with pragmatic solutions"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "so what we're urging is not just to take the shortsighted look, the easy answer the majority party has put before the senate. but take a bold stance. come out for using more american energy, not from expensive foreign sources. we can develop our offshore resources in the gulf of mexico, for example, far from the coastline and add to our energy supply. that will bring down costs. we need to do real things. we need to conserve more. we need to look for alternative sources. and there are plans in place and programs to do just that. what i'm saying is we shouldn't give up. and that's what this bill that's been brought before the senate does."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i am forced to say in my 36 years in the senate, i have never seen a problem so big met by a proposal and a solution that is so small."
  • SUMMARY "the majority continued to trot out a baseless proposal that they're calling a use-it-or-lose-it in an attempt to convince americans that despite all evidence to the contrary, they're actually in favor of some domestic production. make no mistake. if the democrats wanted more production, they would have included in the underlying bill"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill (S. 3221).
  • SUMMARY "this, in the end, is not just about some fannie mae or freddie mac issue. it is not about a distant theoretical housing issue. it is about real lives and real families. many of whom are not just struggling with impending foreclosure and the devastation that that can bring to a family."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • NOTABLE "i come to the floor to speak basically about the need for more energy production in this country as well as more conservation."
  • SUMMARY "the fact is while we sit and lock up our resources off of our coast, china and europe are coming in and drilling closer to the land of the united states than we are allowing ourselves to drill, which doesn't make sense. because what we need to do to get prices down is to increase the supply of oil and gas domestically and -- and -- significantly reduce our usage of it by moving away from gasoline-only vehicles."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "now, some of my colleagues want to paint this side of the aisle as advocating for drilling only. mr. president, it's obvious that they have not read our proposals. yes, we and the majority of americans support increased domestic production. but we also support reduced consumption and increased transparency and oversight and efforts by the cftc regarding future markets. our policy position does not stop at find more. the message from my constituents is find more and use less. our bill encourages alternative sources of energy, including plug-in electric vehicles through the development of better batteries, to maximize electricity range and use less gas"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i agree additional enforcement an transparency can help better manage the commodities that are critical it our economic and national security. we should move forward with responsible actions. but cracking down on speculators alone will not solve our gas price woes. we must also decrease demand and increase supply. rising gas prices are driven primarily by a supply-demand imbalance in the global energy markets. last year global demand exceeded supply by nearly one million barrels a day. the result, over the past year gas prices in north carolina have increased by more than 30%."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "what they're trying to do is predict into the future what the price of something is going to be. now, if they guess right, they can make money. if they guess wrong, they may lose money. but they are researchers. an they're looking at the best evidence they can. one of the things they look at is will there be more supply or more demand. obviously if there is more demand, then the price is going to go up. it is a little bit like the weather man predicting the weather. the weatherman is a professional too. he looks at all of the research and he concludes that by this weekend we're going to have some rain. now, he may be right. he may be wrong. but that's his job to try to predict. and more often than not, he can predict it fairly accurately what if we don't want rain next weekend? what if we don't think rain is a good idea? are we going to muzzle or fire the weatherman and say, we don't you to repor! t this because we don't want the rain?"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "even though almost every senator in this chamber has admit that had there's problem with speculation, that that is part of the problem. we may differ on how much of the part of the problem that is, but we know that it's part of the problem. i believe our stop excessive energy speculation act will help to pop the oil speculation bubble. this bill has a number of provisions that will fight the kind of excessive speculation that drives up energy prices for hard-working american families"
  • SUMMARY "i can tell you when my friends across say that speculation has little to do with this, i'll use a good beer word. that is all foam and no beer. it is time to get something done. it is time to act on speculation."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "drilling in the outer continental shelf and on public lands in america over the last eight years has increased by 361% and at the same time the price of oil has doubled. so there is no relationship between drilling on the outer continental shelf, drilling on public lands in america and the price of oil"
  • SUMMARY "so what's new? there's only one thing that's different. there's only one thing that's new and it's a massive influx of speculation in the marketplace. this is the 800-pound gorilla. increasingly experts now say that rampant speculation in energy markets account for anywhere from 25% to 40% of the energy price increase."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "rather than take steps to help consumers today, the bush republicans are now trying to harness americans' anger and frustration and, of all things, use it to capture more inventory for big oil./ the energy companies have already bought up 68 million acres of public lands to drill and they're just sitting on it. they're spending more buying back stock than they are drilling these holdings. now, rather than drill what they have, they just want more. the administration and its allies have said that opening up more land to drill is the one and only way to lower the price of gas in this country that. is just flat wrong."
  • SUMMARY "speculators invest in oil futures with no intention of taking possession of the commodity itself. they've historically played a role in the marketplace, but under george bush's watch, excessive and irresponsible speculation has exploded. experts may disagree on whether speculators have run up the price of oil by 10% or 30% or 50% but there is broad and growing agreement that speculation is a serious problem and that fixing that problem can help bring gas prices down now"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "this bill is not in place on the floor to be taken seriously, and i think that most of us who've talked with people throughout the industry realize that. and again, this is something to take the voters' minds off the real issue and that is the issue of supply and demand. i want to say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that i am willing to look at everything there is to look at in the equation of supply and demand."
  • SUMMARY "the biggest issue before the american people and what it's really about is killing time until we find out whether the majority leader will allow us, treated like teenagers, to allow us whether -- to allow us to offer amendments or not. it's an amazing thing. it sometimes me that if we were going to be serious about this, that we'd have the gumption to stand here on the floor, offer real amendments, talk about those amendments and hash them out."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i think it seems like -- and i don't think this is unfair; i think this is just exactly what we keep hearing -- the answer from the other side of the aisle is "no new energy." they want to investigate. they want to litigate. they want to raise taxes but when it comes to no new energy, new energy sources, they say no. and the one law that congress, of course, cannot repeal or success spend even here in washington, d.c., and the law of supply and demand."
  • SUMMARY "i think it is critical we allow full debates and amendmens that would be likely to actually solve the problem rather than go through what is a patently political exercise so that somebody or another can check off the box and say, okay, we have been there, done that. now we can go home on august recess. i believe we ought to stay here rather than go on recess in august. we ought to stay here until we have actually come up with a commonsense solution to the problem."

• Spoke on leased acreage of oil.
  • SUMMARY "can you tell me why you believe that 68 million federal acres of lands which we have new given to the oil and gas companies which they are not using for exploration and production is an argument forgiving them more acreage?"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "this is a very complex enterprise where you try to figure out where oil is likely to be but sometimes you're wrong and it costs millions, even sometimes billions of dollars to invest to produce that oil so what the oil companies try to do is figure out where their chances are best so they start there. but the more land, including the submerged lands in the outer continental shelf that is available to them that now congress has put out of bounds, i think the better chances are that they will be able to find it"

• Spoke on leased acreage of oil.
  • SUMMARY "if you were given the opportunity to lease a barrel of rain water or a lake to go fishing i assume would you lease the lake and i think the gas companies believe the lands is likely to have oil and gas so if they have paid their money to lease federal land, 68 million it 506 shore, what half of it onshore -- and another 23 million acres in alaska, where is this mother lode of oil that you are so certain we are holding back from the oil and gas companies that would bring us the oil instant tablously and bring down -- instant tablously and bring down gas prices?"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "there's not a big lake of oil under the surface of the land that's available to anybody who can punch a hole in the earth and then suck it out with a straw, so i don't really think the analogy is apt. these oil companies are, they -- they're owned in america, owned by shareholders. they're not interested in drilling dry holes."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "yes, get away from using oil. i am all for that but that's not going to happen any time soon. just by lifting the moratorium at the executive level, oil prices have come down about $20. nuclear power? everybody talks about it. the french, 80% of the french power comes from the nuclear industry. they recycle the waste. they don't put it in the ground. they know what to do with the waste. surely we can be as bold as the french. anyway, there are a lot of things we could do but we're choosing to do nothing."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "through some mystery and magic that i never fully appreciate and certainly don't support, futures contract prices, even though they're for oil that will be delivered in the future, somehow get it were read right out at the gas pump pretty much the next day. okay. add that private pension money to increasing commodity investments from state and local government, pension plans, hedge funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors and the result is clear. rising oil, gas and food prices. the stark reality is that the speculators today threaten to overwhelm our commodity markets and substantially increase food and energy prices for years to come"
  • SUMMARY "i know there's a, what has become a characteristic classic senate moment where there's a potential gridlock over this bill because of disagreements on what amendments will be allowed. i sure hope we can overcome that, because the american people need the relief that this bill will offer. i hope we can figure out a way to come to a lot of the other ideas that colleagues want to put on as amendments because the american people need the relief that those amendments will offer as well."

The Senate stands in recess until 5:00 PM.

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "let's add production to it, the answer's oh, no, politically, we can't go there. there's an election out there. let the american consumer and his pocketbook burn down. well, if that's the policy of the day, it's the wrong policy. it should not be allowed, and i'm one who would refuse to allow it to go forward. we're either going to debate energy in a full-blown, responsible fashion; we're going to allow amendments, they're going to be up or down. we'll win or we'll lose, but america deserves to be to see a robust proproduction, proconservation, proalternative, antispeculation debate and bill produced on the floor of the united states senate. anything less just isn't acceptable. and i hope the american people are listening today."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "we have heard experts, energy economists come before one committee or another to tell us in fact that the price of a barrel of oil today maybe 25% to 50% higher than it should be under normal pr processes, supply and demand and the cost of production, because of excessive speculation. so we have got to move and move aggressively on the speculation issue"
  • SUMMARY "it's nice to see so many of our republican friends who have such confidence in the oil industry. and who with believe if we just allow the oil companies to drill offshore in areas where there has been a drilling moratorium, to ignore the fact there are over 60 million acres of land they already have leases on, and people believe if oil company is just given more land to drill they're going to do the right thing, that's great. i'm glad to see some people have confidence in the oil companies. i personally don't have confidence in the oil companies."
• Spoke on LIHEAP (S. 3186)
  • SUMMARY "we should be very clear that in terms of the need to increase liheap funding we are literally dealing with a life and death situation. people will die, people will die of exposure to cold; people will die of heat exhaustion, if we do not move and if we do not move quickly"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "international energy agency saying, blaming speculation is an easy solution which avoids taking the necessary steps to improve supply of oil and gas. now, that's what it's all about. it's supply and demand. there's not a person in america who has a high school education who hasn't already studied the law of supply and demand, and they know, in fact, it does work."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "from an oil perspective, alaska's arctic is being forecast to contain a third -- a third -- of all the undiscovered conventional oil in the arctic region. now, we recognize that when we operate up there, we must protect the environment while we develop that energy, and we will. but alaska offers a lot of energy potential."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "our republican colleagues are blocking our efforts to eliminate harmful oil speculation and to provide some speculation bill with a reckless plan to let oil companies drill along our shores.n we don't have to look any further than what's happened this morning on the mississippi river to understand why this plan is so reckless."

• Moved to proceed to S. 3268.  (motion agreed to)
• Filled the amendment tree on S. 3268.
  • SUMMARY "the republicans have two tools in their obstruction delay kit. as it toolkit that's worked quite well for them. first, they prevent senate from getting the bills. the republican leader uses this tool when he can convince enough of his caucus to kill legislation before the senate debate even begins. second when a bill is so popular, that the republican leader's unable to convince enough of his colleagues to kill it before debate can begin, he switches to his second tool, claim the process is unfair. that's what we have before us today. 6 the republican leader requests an unlimited or virtually an unlimited number of amendments that he's unable or unwilling to provide specifics on"
• Filed cloture on S. 3268.
• Moved to commit the bill to the agricultural committee with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment.
• Filled the tree on the instructions of the motion to commit S. 3268.
• Laid before the Senate the House Message to HR 3221 and filed cloture on it.
• Filled the amendment tree on the House Message to HR 3221.
• Propounded a UC that no motion to refer be in order during the pendancy of the measure. (DeMint objected)

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i believe we could arrange unanimous consent to shorten the time if you would allow one amendment that would prohibit the fannie mae and freddie mac, or freddie mac organizations from lobbying during this time of taxpayer-secured funding so we are prepared to shorten the time if you are willing to allow that unanimous consent."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i would be happy to consider joining the senator in a letter to the -- two entities regarding some way to make sure that they're transparent in the lobbying they do. i would be happy to do something like this but i feel constrained not to slow up this very important legislation which is well over a month overdue at this time"
• Moved to proceed to the LIHEAP Bill (S. 3186) and filed cloture on that motion.

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "the good news is that we are now on a subject that the american people are interested in. the bad news is, it only deals with a very tiny part of the overall problem that we co confront. we know that over 70% of the american public believes that we ought to expand domestic production of oil and gas, both onshore and offshore. we know that a speculation-only bill, while an interesting debate as to what part of the price of gas at the pump speculation involves, we know that that alone is not going to deal with the core problem"
• Propounded a UC that the Senate proceed to S. 3268, that the bill remain the pending business unless displaced by a privaleged measure, that there be open consideration of amendments, alternating between either side, and listed the first seven Republican amendments to be considered.  (Reid objected)

• Replied.
  • SUMMARY "it's very, very obvious, mr. president, that the republicans, especially when they want to be the exclusive matter that he deal with, that is, this energy bill, that they want this to go on, as a lot of things have this year, just into oblivion"

• On energy policy.
  • SUMMARY "we'll be arguing during the pendency of this issue that we ought to open up this bill, give all senators on both the democratic and republican side, an opportunity to turn this into a serious, comprehensive energy proposal debated and amended consistent with senate tradition that we know will lead to an actual law. i mean, what happens when you go through these slimmed down, check the box exercise, you don't get anything done"
  • SUMMARY "the fundamental point is i think i would say to my friend from arizona everybody in the republican conference believes that since this is the most important issue in the country, we ought to spend some time on it and try to get it right."
  • SUMMARY "i'm hard pressed to think of a particular example of any conservation measure that virtually every member of our conference is not in favor of."
  • SUMMARY "enators probably took economics 101. and when i took it, the law of supply and demand had both supply and demand, finding more and using less. i wonder if the republican leader knows of any movement in academic circles to repeal half of the law of supply and demand and say that the law of supply and demand done anymore include supply?"
  • SUMMARY "we would be happy to time agreements on our amendments. we want to go forward. there is no effort to slow this down. we want to make progress. and frequently as my friend from new hampshire points out, the way you make progress when you make an amendment, is agree to a time agreement. this is a certain amount of risk involved. you don't know if you will win or lose, but you move forward"

• On energy policy.
  • SUMMARY "let's not laugh outloud. we have brought matters before this body in detail more than once to do something about gas prices. long ago. one the presiding officer had played an essential part in that piece of legislation, called the consumer first energy act. that matter was brought up june it was a good piece of legislation. it said we should tax these windfall profits of oil companies."
  • SUMMARY "the goal of the republicans is to stall and that's what they're doing and they're pretty good at it."
  • SUMMARY "if this is a critical, timely issue, can you gather your republican senators, all 49, and come up with your package that could include all of the elements that are mentioned here and did we not make the offer to the republican side that that would be called to the floor for debate and for a vote in a timely fashion?"
  • SUMMARY "to split that off piece by piece, have one piece, two pieces, three pieces, four pieces, five pieces, whatever's in it, so they can stall some more. so -- so i say to my friend, yeah, we were willing to have a vote on their package and we would have our package. we are very proud of our package."
  • SUMMARY "we have nine days left, assuming that there's not much to be achieved later today, nine days left before we're supposed to adjourn. and we are trying before we adjourn for the august recess to deal with several outstanding measures"
  • SUMMARY "in addition to turning us down on energy price relief, the consumer first energy act, they turned us down on that, they turned us down on the extenders. they do not want to legislate. they, obviously, aren't concerned about the 85,000 people who are going to be given foreclosure notices net next few days. they obviously are not concerned about moving forward on liheap quickly."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "i really believe that the american people want their senators to debate this issue on the floor of the senate, gef us the right to make amendments, let's vote them up or down, let's go at it and have a robust debate. and hopefully after it is over, some consensus will come back as we did back in 2005 and 2007 so that people feel that we have really for the first time stopped bickering and tried to address our attention to something that is really going to make a difference in their lives. as you know, mr. president, oil is not easily found nor substituted. and it will remain an integral component to our economy in the short run. but we must make investments today that will help us achieve our goal to tomorrow. today i believe this is -- we call it find more and use less. or to put it more eloquent, we must increase our supply, reduce our demand through alternative energie! s. and we must avoid the smoke screens that cloud our path to real solutions"

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "what can we do to help lower gas prices right now? drilling is the wrong answer. it will do nothing right now. it is literally a shell game, or an exonmobile game. it's designed to serve the political interests of vulnerable republicans and the financial interests of rich oil companies. average americans will not see a dime. now, that is not just my opinion."
  • SUMMARY "i believe we can lower gas prices in the very near term by taking small, practical, sensible steps to address rampant oil speculation."

• Spoke on the Energy Speculation Bill (S. 3268).
  • SUMMARY "my position all along is that we needed to have a broad base of energy not only to meet the needs of my state, which i think -- but to meet the needs of this country. and so when we get into this debate, i'm rather flabbergasted that we have members in senate that feel like we've got to -- you can only come up with one solution to our energy problems. i think that we need to come up with a multitude of solutions for our energy and that means that we shouldn't take anything off the table."

• Performed wrap-up.
• Tomorrow --
  • We will convene at 9:30 AM.
  • We will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to LIHEAP (S. 3186).
  • We will have a moment of silence at 3:40 PM, all Senators are encouraged to be at their desks.

The Senate stands in recess until 9:30 AM tomorrow.