October 2, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10415 

as we worked through water issues that 

were for our State and certainly for the 

Nation. Not only does he know the law, 

coming out of a high desert environment of the kind that is in southern, 

southeastern, and southwestern Idaho, 

he knows the reality. He knows the importance. He knows that water is life 

and death. It is economy or no economy based on its value. That is the 

kind of partnership we have had over 

the years. 

I will be replaced by Idaho’s lieutenant governor, Jim Risch. I am confident he will be elected, for a lot of 

reasons. First, he is a highly competent person. Idaho knows him well 

and respects him. He has served Idaho 

well and he will serve us very well 

here. He will become the junior partner 

of the soon-to-be senior Senator, MIKE

CRAPO. That teamship, that organizational effort, that combining of forces 

on by far a majority of issues will be 

held for Idaho’s interests. 

MIKE and I rarely split our votes. 

When we do, we talk about them, we 

know our differences and we understand them. But we have realized over 

the years that the team approach for 

Idaho and the Idaho delegation is very 

important for a small State—small by 

population, at least, certainly not 

small by geography. So the friendship 

and the relationship I have had with 

Senator CRAPO over the years has been 

personally very valuable to me, but I 

trust it has been very valuable to the 

State of Idaho. But that kind of working, teaming partnership is going to 

continue as I step down and Jim Risch 

is elected in November to continue to 

work with MIKE CRAPO. 

So I say to my colleague, Senator 

CRAPO: Thank you. Thank you for the 

kind remarks and the working relationship and friendship we have had 

over the years. 

And to the presiding officer, while he 

has not served here as long as either of 

us, I would say to him that he fits in 

immediately, because he is a westerner 

who understands our issues, because 

they are his issues, and we have already begun to work those kinds of 

partnerships and relationships that are 

very valuable to the West, to the public 

lands, and to the interests of our 

States’ people. 

I thank the Chair, and I yield the 

floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho. 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I came 

down here to pay a tribute to our senior Senator from Idaho, Senator LARRY

CRAIG, and you can see the caliber of 

man he is—he came down and paid tribute to me. That is the way he is. 

I want to add to my remarks by 

thanking Senator CRAIG personally for 

his tremendous assistance to me. From 

the very first day that I stepped foot 

on the floor of the Senate—in fact, before that, when I was trying to get 

elected to the Senate—Senator CRAIG

was there to help. And once I was elected, Senator CRAIG set about making 

sure I could be successful. 

As he has indicated by his gracious 

remarks, that is the kind of man he is. 

He is a tremendous friend and he is a 

tremendous advocate and he has the 

kind of principles and values that have 

helped him to represent the people of 

Idaho so well over the years. He has 

committed his life to public service 

and has shown the people of Idaho and 

the people of this Nation the kind of 

leadership we should have in this country, fighting for those kinds of principles that I have mentioned—whether 

it be private property rights, a balanced budget, lower, smaller government, protecting those without a voice, 

working for the veterans, working for 

senior citizens, and his commitment to 

working for our newest citizens of our 

world, those who need adoption. The 

list goes on and on and on. 

I want to personally thank you, 

LARRY, for the opportunity to serve 

with you here in the Senate, and to tell 

you that I and all of us in Idaho will 

miss you and look forward to continuing to work with you as you enter 

this new chapter of your life. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor, and 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. CRAIG. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

ECONOMIC CRISIS 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, for the 

next few minutes I wish to connect the 

dots. What am I saying? Well, I wish to 

take us from where this Senate was 

last night, when on a 74-to-25 vote it 

voted out one of the largest financial 

assistance packages in the history of 

the Nation—700-plus billion dollars—to 

try to stabilize the credit markets of 

our country and make sure that Main 

Street—whether it be in small-town 

Colorado or small-town Idaho—still 

have credit in its banks for its citizens 

and its small business people to conduct business and make payroll. 

We have, by a series of actions over 

the last decade, placed the American 

economy and the American consumer— 

the taxpayer—in peril. Last night was 

an effort to recognize that and to do 

something about it. Because of its size, 

and because of its early billing—that it 

was a ‘‘Wall Street bailout’’—I suspect 

your constituents and mine backed off 

and said: ‘‘Whoa, wait a minute, government; wait a minute, politician, 

don’t put the taxpayer at peril with 

this kind of effort.’’ 

At the same time, you and I, and 

many of us here, were looking at all of 

the issues at hand, recognizing this was 

not a bailout for Wall Street. In fact, 

from its original concept to its evolution to the bill that was passed last 

night, it was a much different document—safeguarding and protecting the 

taxpayer and trying to recognize the 

need of a growing credit crisis on Main 

Street USA. I think, and I hope, we 

have accomplished that. 

But how did this come to be? Well, 

there are a lot of fingers that can be 

pointed. We can point at the liberal 

lending policy and advocacy of Fannie 

Mae and Freddie Mac, and subprimes, 

and too much credit in the market, and 

the explosion of the housing industry— 

or at least the explosion of the bubble 

in the housing industry. But something 

else came along about the time all of 

those elements in our economy were 

coming together that I think was probably the tripwire that helped create 

the current situation. 

Let me connect the dot, the dot of 

too much credit, of subprime, of an 

economy that was maxed out, of a consumer who was maxed out. Let me connect the dot of the average consumer 

having to pay anywhere from $100 to 

$150 more a month on his energy bill at 

the gas pump. What happened in our 

economy as energy prices went through 

the roof and that spread out across our 

economy in food costs, in transportation costs, in the costs of everything 

we do because our economy is so intricately linked with energy and the 

availability of energy? You didn’t hear 

anybody on the floor last night talk 

about energy. You did not hear anybody on the floor last night talk about 

the $4 gas or the $140-a-barrel oil that 

was true a few months ago, but it was 

there and it was lurking in the background. It had already hit our economy 

along the side of the head with a fatal 

blow. We have over the last several 

years tried to recognize that. 

When we left here in July for the August recess, Democrats and Republicans were at odds over energy. I was 

saying let’s drill, let’s produce, and the 

American consumer was awakening to 

this energy shock that our economy 

was having and they were saying the 

same thing; 65 to 70 percent of the 

American consumers were saying, 

What’s wrong, politician? Why are you 

locking away the great resources of 

this country? In the name of the environment? In the name of no growth? In 

the name of good feelings? The bad 

feelings were at the pump. The bad 

feelings were in the pocketbook. 

Stay with me for a moment and 

think about this. Think about that 

consumer. He and she, working hard, 

maybe bringing home $45,000 or $50,000 

a year amongst the two—mom and 

dad—they have their credit cards 

maxed out. They have maybe $5,000 on 

their credit cards and they are paying 

a couple of hundred dollars a month 

each month on that credit card and 

making their house payment and barely getting by and, all of a sudden, in 

the last year and a half or two, their 

energy bill goes through the roof and 

they are paying $150 to $200 a month, 

and they don’t have it. 

Then the value they had in their 

house that they might have taken a 

second mortgage out on to bail them 


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S10416 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 2, 2008 

out, all of a sudden begins to disappear. 

That is an American family in crisis. 

That is an American family in crisis 

without question. That is the crisis we 

began to deal with last night. That, of 

course, was that $5,000 they had on 

their credit card that they were paying 

$200 a month on, the credit card company called them up and said we are 

going to pump it up to $400 a month, we 

are going to drop your credit line, and 

we are going to charge you more interest. That is what was happening, and it 

was brought on by practices in the 

economy over the last good number of 

years, and the energy crisis coming 

down on top. 

In the midst of all of this great debate about the economy, something 

happened at the end of September. 

Politicians who couldn’t face the vote 

to deal with the issue of taking off the 

offshore oil moratorium let it expire. 

There were a few stories about ‘‘offshore drilling moratoria expired.’’ Even 

some of the cable news stations had 

charts up showing graphs—graphs I had 

used here on the floor—of areas that 

were now available offshore. Somehow 

there was a little story out there that 

possibly we were going to get back into 

the business of drilling and production 

and therefore bring down our risk as a 

nation and stop the huge flow of money 

going offshore and the consumer would 

be better off. 

I am here today to connect another 

dot and to suggest to the American 

consumer that is an illusion. The reason it is an illusion is because there are 

a few politicians around here saying 

when we get back next year, we can 

slip that moratorium back on. There 

are others saying good, it is off, it will 

stay off, and we can begin to work the 

process of getting the Department of 

the Interior, USGS, and others to do 

the surveys and environmental impact 

statements that will allow us to drill. 

Therein lies the question: To drill— 

when? Let me tell you how it works, 

because the day the moratoria came 

off, and they came off the last of September, if everything were to work 

right, it would be 7 to 8 years before 

any rig could go out there into the 

deep waters and begin to drill. That is 

normal process and time. If you look at 

the example of Alaska where there are 

offshore leases and the environmental 

impact statements have been done, 

guess what else happened. Along came 

the interest groups and they filed suits 

and they have extended that drilling 

time out another 3 or 4 years while the 

oil companies go through the courts 

and fight the battles of the environmental groups that do not want you 

there to begin with. 

America, please awaken. Do not 

think the energy crisis is over because 

we have turned the economy down, we 

have turned consumption down around 

the world and all of a sudden oil is now 

down to $92, $93, $94 a barrel. Because 

the very thing we hope for, and that is 

for the economy to come back and people to come back to work and homes to 

be built here and around the world, 

means that energy consumption will go 

back up against a relatively static supply market. 

The good news is we hopefully did the 

right things to bring the economy 

back. The bad news is we haven’t done 

a darned thing to increase the supply 

of hydrocarbons in our market—except 

to run a few tickertapes or billboards 

that we let the moratorium expire on 

offshore oil. But we have not indemnified the companies, we have not done 

the right things it would take to bring 

drilling to the areas where the oil is. 

And there is oil out there—billions of 

barrels of oil. 

Every time the gulf, where there is a 

lot of deepwater drilling, gets hit by 

hurricane—whether it was Katrina or 

Ike recently, that knocked hundreds of 

platforms off their foundations out in 

the deepwater production area—there 

was no environmental problem because 

we are so good at doing what we do 

today. We insist that the best talent 

come, the best equipment come, and we 

have those kinds of environmental protections that deny us the ghosts of 

Santa Barbara of three decades ago. 

Yet there is still a large number of 

Americans wanting to deny us that. 

There is a great number of politicians 

who would love to run from the reality 

of getting this country back into the 

business of producing energy. 

We talk about it. We play the game. 

But I am here today to say we do not 

connect all of the dots and it is not 

going to be 2, 3, 4 years after the moratoria goes off. After you work all the 

systems and all the lawsuits through 

all the courts, you would be very lucky 

to get any field into production in the 

next 12 years. That is the way it is. 

That is the problem we have to deal 

with. That is the problem the new Congress will have to deal with and deal 

with it in a very real way. 

What are we talking about? The estimation of the domestic recoverable oil 

and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf. In old geology, in old surveys that do not keep up with the modern techniques that we have today, 

where we are finding the truly deep oil 

out in the gulf, we know there are at 

least 30 billion barrels of oil. We believe in the undiscovered resource 

areas there could be as much as 85 or 

100 billion barrels of oil. There are literally trillions of cubic feet of gas—200, 

250, 350, 400, we are not sure, but we 

know this. When you take the old technology and you go out there with the 

new technologies and you apply it to 

the old geologies, you usually get two 

to three times more than you thought 

you were going to get. That is a fact 

and we know that today. 

Therefore, it is critically important 

that we get the rigs into the water, get 

the rigs out there, and begin to explore 

and develop; that is, if you do not want 

another runup in energy values and an 

energy crisis of the kind we have put 

our people through when this economy 

comes back—and it will come back, 

hopefully soon, but within the next 

couple of years. Congress’s failure to 

act, Congress’s willingness to march 

down the old path of no exploration, no 

drilling, no production, buy it from our 

enemies, the ‘‘send our money offshore’’ syndrome will plunge us back 

into another energy crisis. 

I say to those who might be listening 

today, connect the dots. One of those 

dots you will connect is with your politicians, with your policymakers. Insist 

that they do the right thing, and the 

right thing is to free this country up 

and get us back into the business of 

production. 

While the OCS moratorium has lifted, here is another little problem. A 

couple of years ago, with a political 

compromise here on the floor of the 

Senate, we took a little piece off the 

Florida coast, down off the Alabama 

coast, called lease sale 181. The reason 

we opened that was because it was very 

close to the infrastructure—meaning 

the pipes and the refinery areas. We 

know there is a lot of gas and oil there. 

We created special conditions. We even 

indemnified, or protected from lawsuits, some of the companies going in 

there. Those sales are let and those 

companies are headed there. We believe 

there could be several billion barrels of 

oil there. 

But, very quietly, in the language it 

also prohibits us from going on east toward the Florida coast where there are 

billions more barrels of oil that were 

once under the OCS moratorium but 

have special language and special protection and still have that special language and still have that special protection, even with the moratoria expiration being lifted this past week. 

That is another dirty little secret 

that nobody wants to talk about—the 

Floridians most assuredly don’t want 

to talk about—even though in Florida 

today they are saying drill it, go after 

it, get it, help us out; drop our energy 

bills, help our pocketbooks, help our 

family budget. Congress, do the right 

thing. 

Those are some of the challenges the 

new Congress will face. We have a staggering economy, we are in a major 

credit crunch, we have consumers who 

are maxed out in a lot of ways, but the 

one thing they grew so very angry 

about the last 6 months was that somebody was robbing them blind—or at 

least they thought they were—at the 

fuel pump. The reason we had an energy crisis was because we began to 

have a political crisis on the floor of 

this Senate years ago when we continually locked up our resources, all in 

the name of some worthy cause, denying the riches of our country and our 

land to the American people. 

As some know who have been listening or have been watching the floor for 

the last hour, I am not going to be 

here. I am retiring. I spent a lot of my 

years dealing with the very issue I am 

talking about now, all in the name of 

increased production, fighting unbelievable odds because of the beliefs 


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October 2, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10417 

many of our Members of Congress have 

about locking it up in the name of 

something. 

I would hope Congress got real and 

recognized the reality of the world we 

live in. Just as we live in a worldwide 

economic market, we also live in a 

worldwide energy market. The great 

tragedy of today has created, in part, 

the economic crisis we are in. While it 

was at the gas pump for the average 

citizen every day, at least when oil was 

$140 a barrel, we were sending upwards 

of $1.2 billion offshore to buy oil. 

America cannot continue to do that 

and remain a wealthy and prosperous 

nation. We simply are draining our 

Treasury dry. Yet we have oil all 

around us. Consumers are now seeing 

ads on television talking about the 

great shale pools of natural gas the 

new technology is bringing. Yet very 

quietly we are trying to keep a lot of 

that out of reach, all in the name of 

the environment. 

We have all other kinds of energy resources we ought to be going after and 

developing. I believe the next decade in 

front of us is the decade of energy. I 

think as a Congress we are awakening. 

I know the consumers have awakened 

and they are going to demand that 

Congress do what is right, all in the 

name of new production, new technologies, diverse kinds of energy portfolios for our country. 

We will not be a wealthy nation 20 

years from now. We will not be a nation that allows our citizens and our 

young people to pursue the American 

dream as we and our parents before us 

and our grandparents before them. 

We need to recognize the next 20 

years ought to be and must be dedicated to the production of energy; all 

forms, clean, diverse. That is our challenge. So let’s connect the dots. 

Last night we talked about a credit 

crunch and a credit crisis. I believe it 

was worsened by an energy crunch and 

an energy crisis we have lived through 

and are currently continuing to live 

through. 

If the Congress does not bring that 

together, then we will fail, or at least 

we will not allow the greatest hope and 

the greatest expectation of our country, this great country, to see its natural level. Those are our challenges. 

Bold votes last night, bold and necessary steps were taken. Can this Senate as a policymaking body be as bold 

in energy as we were with the economy? That is the challenge we face. I 

will not face it anymore. But everybody who serves here will. I hope they 

can meet that challenge. Because if 

they fail, then our great Nation is 

weakened and the opportunities many 

of us have worked for, for our children 

and our grandchildren over the years, 

simply cannot be realized. 

So Senate, Congress, connect the 

dots. Work at getting the economy 

right, work at getting energy production back online, work at giving this 

great enterprising country of ours the 

opportunity to create and to be what it 

can be. That is a necessary and important challenge. I am confident, if the 

citizens of our country demand it, the 

Congress will rise to that occasion. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado is recognized. 

f 

THANKING SENATORS 

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, while 

the Senator from Idaho is on the floor, 

I made some comments earlier about 

the pleasure of being able to work with 

him in the Senate. I wish to also recognize the fine work he has done on energy. We certainly appreciate his work 

on that. 

Colorado is an energy-rich State. We 

have all forms of energy, not only fossil fuels but also wind and solar and 

geothermal. I think Senator CRAIG has 

been very sensitive to those. 

When working with the Senator from 

Idaho I felt like he truly had the Nation’s interest in mind. It has been a 

pleasure for me to serve with Senator 

CRAIG, particularly on the Appropriations Committee. The Senator brought 

in a very competent staff and was himself extremely knowledgeable. 

As we leave this institution, I wish to 

thank the Senator from Idaho for all 

the work he did to help me along with 

legislation. What a privilege it has 

been to be able to know Senator CRAIG

and work with him in the Senate. Also, 

I wish to recognize the Senator’s hard 

work in the Senate. 

Senator SALAZAR was making some 

comments earlier on, talking about my 

retirement. I happened to have gone 

downstairs and grabbed a lunch and 

there he was. I also want the people of 

Colorado to know I have enjoyed working with Senator SALAZAR. We have not 

agreed on some of the national issues, 

but I think generally one thing we 

have agreed on is we need to work for 

Colorado. 

I think we have truly been partners 

in that effort. I appreciated the opportunity to get to know you. I’m reminded that when Colorado came into 

the Union, in 1876—we are known as 

the Centennial State—the Republicans 

were pretty much in control of everything. You see, Colorado is a State that 

is recognized as a swing State, it 

swings back and forth between the Republican and Democratic Parties. 

But at that particular time, there 

was a big effort to have a Senator from 

the north and a Senator from the south 

of our State. Similarly, today, I grew 

up about as far north as you can get in 

Colorado, Senator SALAZAR grew up 

about as far south as you can get in the 

State of Colorado. I think, at least in 

the spirit, and certainly in geographic 

location, we have been able to represent all of the State of Colorado and 

deal with those issues in a civil and responsible way. 

I wish to thank Senator SALAZAR

publicly for his service to the State of 

Colorado and also want the people of 

Colorado to know I highly respect Senator KEN SALAZAR, who is sitting in the 

chair right now, for his dedication and 

the rich heritage he has in the State of 

Colorado. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve with Senator SALAZAR

in the State of Colorado and I wish the 

Senator well in future years. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho. 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, before the 

senior retiring Senator from the State 

of Colorado leaves, let me thank him 

for his gracious comments. We have 

been a very good team and have 

partnered on a lot of issues over the 

years because we have such common 

interests in mind. Our States are very 

similar in so many ways. 

The State of Colorado happens to 

have the hydrocarbons we do not have, 

when it comes to gas and oil. But at 

the same time, agriculture, water and 

timber, tourism, and all the great 

things many people attribute to the 

West are embodied in the State of Colorado and certainly in the State of 

Idaho. 

But a very special thanks to Senator 

ALLARD for your fine comments. The 

work the Senator has done on behalf of 

his State is precedent setting. I hope— 

I know—the Senator will be continually recognized for that. 

But let me also say the Senator and 

his wife Joan have become good friends 

of both my wife Suzanne and I. Those 

are the kinds of friendships that build 

partnerships in the Senate. I hope 

other Senators recognize the Senate 

works well when Senators are friends 

and partners. 

Now, we may have our disagreements 

along the way, and there may be some 

disagreements between Democrats and 

Republicans, but when the collegiality 

of the Senate leaves, the Senate no 

longer works or works as well as it 

should on behalf of our citizens. Certainly, the collegiality between the 

Craigs and the Allards has been longstanding and greatly appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Mr. ALLARD. 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. REID. I ask unanimous consent 

that the order for the quorum call be 

rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST— 

S. 3150 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Commerce 

Committee be discharged from further 

consideration of S. 3150, the Access to 

Air Travel Act, that the bill be read a 

third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table with no 

intervening action or debate, and that 

any statements relating to this matter 

appear at the appropriate place in the 

RECORD as if given. 


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