Amy Klobuchar

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, May 13; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for use later in the day, and the Senate resume consideration of S. 2284, flood insurance, as under the previous order. I further ask that the Senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following calendar numbers be indefinitely postponed en bloc: Calendar Nos. 677 to 680 and Calendar No. 696.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 558, which was submitted earlier today.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 560, submitted earlier today by Senator Boxer.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, without intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 559, which was submitted earlier today.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, despite a little snow the last few weeks, spring is finally arriving in Minnesota. In fact, we had our fishing opener this weekend. It is the time of year when people start going up north. They have their cabins up there. It is not exactly extravagant, but that is their vacation place and that is where they spend a lot of their summer. A lot of my constituents have been calling our office saying they don't know if they can afford to go up north this summer. Worse than that, we have had many people who drive trucks for a living, who have long commutes to work, who are concerned about even keeping up with their jobs. You can see why. The oil and gas prices have tripled since 2002: Minnesota, $3.49 per gallon; in the United States, gas prices are at $3.66 per gallon. You can see why the truckers are upset with diesel at $4.15 per gallon and oil at $122 per barrel. I have to pause for a moment to say I have been coming to the Senate floor to address the price of oil for a number of weeks now and it continues to astound me that every time I speak, the prices have gone up even more, and there appears to be no relief in sight. We look at the skyrocketing gas prices in Minnesota where they have gone from about $2.90 up to $3.62 in only 3 months. This is astonishing, and it is even more astonishing that this administration continues to do nothing; that the attitude seems to be this is what is happening, this is what the market says. I believe there are things we can actually do, of course, in the long term but also in the short term. I don't believe we can continue to do business as usual. I have heard from farmers who are having a hard time making ends meet, even with the high commodity prices, because the cost of their inputs such as diesel fuel for their farm equipment and fertilizer made from natural gas have spiraled out of control. I have heard from people who are having a hard time heating their homes and going on with their lives. The high price of energy has inflated the price of everything from groceries to transportation to home heating. We had a hearing in the Joint Economic Committee a few weeks ago about the price of food. There are a number of factors at play there, including the low value of the dollar and the export market; including the weather; including some of the demand for biofuels, although that was put as a relatively small factor. But one thing that was mentioned time and time again was the cost of transportation. In cold northern States such as Minnesota, where people have to pay off large heating bills, this is the time of year they do it. Some of them put it off until now. They are too afraid of thinking about paying their bills for next winter. Middle-class families are struggling with the high cost of health care and college education, and they can't afford the price of gas, especially in our rural areas. You look at the fact that there really haven't been any wage increases or the wages have been stagnant and, in fact, have been going down; you add that to the increasing expenses with the price of gas up about $1,000 or $2,000 a year, depending on how much you drive. For a middle-class family, health care is up something like $1,500 a year; appliances are up, telephone service is up. It comes to about $5,000 extra a year that the middle-class families are expending in the last 8 years. Not a day goes by that I don't hear about this kind of struggle from my constituents, so it is hard for me to understand how our President seemed so taken aback recently when someone asked him about $4-a-gallon gas. This was on February 28, 2008, not too long ago, and the President said: You're predicting $4 a gallon gasoline? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. The fact is it is not just interesting to the people of my State; it is, in fact, a budget buster for too many people in my State. This administration has failed to provide Americans with a meaningful energy policy that would provide relief from high gas and energy prices. This country needs a bold energy policy for the future--not little gimmicks, not little ideas that maybe give you an extra 20 bucks. This country needs something more than someone who is going to say it is interesting. We need a policy that will stabilize prices and give consumers more alternatives, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and provide us with the next generation of home-grown biofuels. Brazil has achieved energy independence. They have done it with sugarcane. It is easier to do, but they have done it. They basically leapfrogged our country because their government had the foresight to put a policy in place that pushed the development of biofuels. They have their own oil, but mostly they have their own biofuels. We can do this; we just need the will. We need to pursue a forward- looking energy policy with the same sense of urgency we used to put a man on the Moon nearly 40 years ago. In the long term, that is going to mean making strategic decisions in research on hybrid cars, new solar technology, cellulosic ethanol, and other forms of energy from biomass. It is just around the corner. We know that. Chevy is coming out with the Chevy Volt which gives you 30 miles, by plugging your car in every day and then it converts over to biofuels. That is 2 years away. We have new solar technologies. We have cellulosic ethanol right at the University of Minnesota where groundbreaking research is being done. We can do this. We need better fuel efficiency for our cars and trucks. As the Presiding Officer knows, this Congress was the first Congress since I was in junior high to increase the gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks by 10 miles per gallon. We can do more. We also need a renewable energy standard such as we have in Minnesota where we simply basically are going to provide 25 percent of our energy, our electricity, from renewable sources by the year 2025. That was a bipartisan agreement in our State--the Republican Governor, Democratic legislature, nearly unanimous, supported by our biggest electricity company itself, which took even a higher standard--30 percent--for itself. These are long-term solutions. I believe very strongly they are important and they are the future and we need to pass them. But there are also things we can do in the short term about high gas prices that could bring immediate relief to the families in my State and across this country. That is why I am proud to cosponsor the Consumer First Energy Act, which Majority Leader Reid introduced last week. There are 20 cosponsors, 20 Senators who are already on this bill. The bill attacks high gas prices from five different angles, all of which are achievable in the short term. The first thing, and the thing I have heard most about when I talked to people in this business, is the role that market speculation is playing in today's price of gas. The administration likes to tell us high gas prices are just a simple case of supply and demand, and more people are driving, so the price of gas goes up. But that answer doesn't hold true any longer. Look at what the oil executives have been saying. On October 30, 2007, the CEO of Marathon Oil said: $100 oil isn't justified by the physical demand in the market. That is the CEO of Marathon Oil on October 30, 2007. I think he might know what he is talking about. Then a more recent quote, on April 11 of this year, by the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, who said: The [oil] fundamentals are no problem. They are the same as they were when oil was selling for $60 a barrel. On April 1 of this year, senior Vice President of ExxonMobil said: The price of oil should be about $50 to 55 per barrel. If oil should be roughly at $50 or $60 a barrel, given market fundamentals, why is it trading at $118 per barrel? If supply and demand doesn't explain the high price of gas, what does? According to the experts, there is a frenzy of unregulated market speculation in the oil futures market that is driving prices to record highs. I wish to share a quote from an energy market analyst with Oppenheimer, who recently was named by Bloomberg as a top-ranked energy analyst in the country. He said: I am absolutely convinced that oil prices should not be a dime above $55 a barrel. Oil speculators include the largest financial institutions in the world. I call it ``the world's largest gambling hall.'' It is open 24/7. It is totally unregulated. This is similar to a highway with no cop and no speed limit and everybody is going 120 miles per hour. That will be reassuring to the people calling our office because they cannot afford to go up to the lake this summer. ``The world's largest gambling hall.'' Why are these trades in a commodity as vital as oil-- at a time when we are in a very fragile situation internationally and we are doing business with countries we would rather not deal with, why is this commodity, oil, unregulated? In 2000, there was a provision inserted into the Commodity Futures Modernization Act that exempted electronic energy trades from Federal regulation. In the absence of oversight, what was once a small niche market became a booming industry, attracting a rampant speculation from hedge funds and investment banks, the largest financial institutions in the world. Oil and natural gas prices became volatile. That provision has come to be known as the ``Enron loophole'' because it made possible the many abuses that triggered the western energy crisis and cost the economy $35 billion and nearly 600,000 jobs. The Federal Government has a critical role to play in conducting aggressive oversight of changing energy markets. Any prosecutor--and the Presiding Officer knows from his past work as a prosecutor--can tell you that good laws are not enough; you need good enforcement. History has shown us that when enforcement is lax, consumers ultimately pay the price. The Consumer First Energy Act addresses the problem of market speculation by stopping traders from routing transactions through offshore markets in order to get around limits on speculation put in place by U.S. regulators. Specifically, the Intercontinental Exchange, or ICE, in London allows trading in American oil futures, gasoline and home heating oil, with far less stringent reporting requirements than what is required here at home. This has driven a lot of speculation offshore and out of reach of our regulators. This bill will make those foreign trades in American oil and gasoline futures subject to reporting requirements so we can have a proper paper trail and keep track of what is occurring. This bill would also require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to increase the margin requirement for oil trades. A margin requirement, as you know, is the amount of money you have to put down if you want to buy and sell oil futures. The margin requirement is currently set by the exchanges themselves, which is like the fox guarding the henhouse. They have set the requirements so low it has led to this rampant speculation. Some people believe this occurred because many speculators have taken money out of subprime mortgages, or the mortgage market, and put it into oil. The people in Minnesota want to know the people in Washington are looking out for them. I think the way we do that is by reining in some of this rampant speculation with this bill. The bill also has requirements that will allow us to push on OPEC so they provide the oil they should provide. They are keeping it at an artificially low level. They are colluding to do that. Yet, at the same time, our country is doing business with many of these countries. This has to stop, and we have to use the leverage we have to push OPEC to produce more oil. Another part of the bill would ask that we temporarily halt putting oil into our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is estimated by energy analysts to bring in about 3 to 5 cents per gallon. They are 97 percent full. Yet our Government is purchasing oil at this incredibly high rate. This bill puts a temporary halt on that so we can put more oil on the market and, at the same time, not burden our country by buying it at this incredibly high rate. Finally, this bill does something we have been trying to do for years: It takes the oil giveaways and puts them in the hands of those who can actually produce renewable energy. As you know, we came so close to doing this in the past. We were one vote short of blocking the filibuster--a tool the other side has used 68 times now, a record number. We were one vote short of taking $17 billion, over a 10-year period, and putting it into the hands of basically the people of this country, to say there is a better way. Instead of investing in the sultans of Saudi Arabia, we can put our investments in the farmers and workers of this country. If Brazil can do it with sugarcane, we can do it with residue from logging or hybrid cars or with hydrogen fuel cells. We can do it with cellulosic ethanol, the next generation of biofuels--but not if we are unwilling to talk about how we do it, which is put our money where our mouth is, which is to take the giveaways the oil companies have been enjoying for so many years, while seeing record profits, and putting it in the hands of the future. That is what we are asking this Senate to vote on tomorrow. I can tell you that if you ask the people in Minnesota--whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents or whether they are from the Twin Cities or the Iron Range of Minnesota or southern Minnesota--they want to go the next step. They are bold. They figure if we can put a man on the Moon, we can do this. This is why I support this bill. This is our future. I am very proud to be a sponsor of the bill, and I hope this Chamber is willing to do something tomorrow different than what we have done in this area of energy before. We have taken steps and increased the gas mileage standards, but this is our opportunity to be bold and to respond to the people of this country who are not looking for gimmicks but they are looking at us to do something. We know we can do a long- term solution, research and development, and the transitioning to green jobs. We can do the transition to cellulosic ethanol and put the money there. In the short term, we need to get rid of this idea that Government should put up our hands and let this keep going, while the rampant speculation goes on and on. We need to place stronger limits on market speculation; temporarily suspend deliveries of oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; put a stop to the oil company giveaways; enact the windfall profit tax, which I know is different than proposals in the past. It kicks in when oil companies are not truly investing in renewables or adding to its refineries and production. And then we have to put that pressure on OPEC. These are the kinds of short-term, bold measures the people of this country are looking for. So tomorrow we have our chance. I implore my colleagues to join us. Let's get this done and do something real for the people of this country. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

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

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 729, S. Res. 537.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and that the Foreign Relations Committee then be discharged of the nomination of William J. Burns to be an Under Secretary of State and that the Senate then proceed to the nomination; that the nomination be confirmed; that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that no further motions be in order; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate then return to legislative session.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 2 p.m. Monday, May 12; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and there then be a period for the transaction of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I am going to speak on another topic which is somewhat related to Israel's 60th anniversary. It is about energy security and climate change and the potential economic value to our country. The way it is related to Israel is this. As we look at the fact that we spend $600,000 a minute on foreign oil, much of that money going to countries that we might not want to be doing business with if we had a choice, Israel, like our country, is very interested in developing alternative energy. If we can cut our dependence on foreign oil, we will enhance our own security as well as Israel's security. Last winter I visited the new headquarters of Great River Energy, one of the biggest electric co-ops in Minnesota, to talk about renewable energy. Great River is building a new energy-efficient office complex in the suburb of Maple Grove, MN. But what I remember best about that day is the huge wind turbine that towers over the building, and the way its blades were rotating in the January winds. This is literally in the middle of a suburban shopping mall. It might seem odd that a company would put up a wind turbine in the suburbs of Minneapolis--in fact, it has become a landmark for the commuters who drive past each morning and evening. It might seem even more odd that an electric utility would erect that symbol of green energy in front of its new headquarters. But what Great River understands--and what that wind turbine symbolizes--is that clean, alternative energy represents a huge opportunity for our country. Great River is not alone among utility companies that can see the green future before us. Xcel Energy, based in the Twin Cities and in Colorado, already gets more than 10 percent of its power from wind. It has pledged to generate 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and reduce its carbon emissions by more than 20 percent over the next 12 years. In fact, Xcel was supportive of our state legislature which put in place one of the most aggressive renewable standards in the country. Xcel's CEO, Dick Kelly, recently said that Xcel intends ``to push it to the max. But it would be nice to have a policy at the federal level, a national policy, so we all know what the rules are.'' As we prepare to debate the landmark climate-change legislation that will come before us in a few weeks, I hope we keep these two examples in mind. Because here is what they show us: Global climate change represents a world of challenges. But it also represents a universe of opportunities--for American business to develop new products and technologies, for consumers to save money on their energy bills, for America to achieve greater energy security and independence. First, there is opportunity for consumers. The National Academy of Sciences has estimated that American motorists were able to cut their gasoline consumption by almost 15 percent annually as a result of the last fuel-economy standards that Congress enacted in 1975--standards that also reduced the emission of greenhouse gases. The new CAFE standards that we adopted in December will not only further slow the emission of greenhouse gases--but they will also save the average consumer as much as $1,000 a year at the gas pump. We are developing the technology to take these efficiencies even further and they make savings at the pump even greater. The opportunities lie not only in producing cheaper and renewable sources of fuel, including cellulosic ethanol, the next generation of ethanol but in making our vehicles more efficient. Increased efficiency is perhaps our greatest opportunity to stretch a family's energy dollar-- $4-a-gallon stretches a lot further when it will take your car 50 miles instead of 25. The next generation of hybrid cars, as well as the development of cars powered by other renewable sources such as electricity or hydrogen, open a new world of opportunity for the American consumer; an opportunity for innovative American companies to be at the forefront; an opportunity to reduce our environmental impact while reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Then there is electricity. If every American household replaced just one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, the country would save $600 million in annual energy costs, the nation would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year--and we would prevent greenhouse gas pollution equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars, There is also opportunity for business. The Safeway grocery chain decided recently to install solar panels on 23 of its supermarkets to provide energy for heating, cooling and electricity. They estimate that they will cut their electricity costs by 20 percent and that they will remove 12.6 million pounds of carbon emissions every year. General Electric, one of the biggest corporations in the world, has moved aggressively into what it calls ``green products'' such as energy-efficient appliances and components for wind turbines. Its sales of green products have doubled since 2005 to $12 billion, and the company aims for $20 billion of green products sales by 2010. This is our ``building a fridge to the next century.'' In my home State, the State of Minnesota, in the town of Starbuck, there is a small company called Solar Skies. There are just 10 employees at Solar Skies, but those 10 people decided to take a risk, to leave their jobs, and to go to work for a place that makes solar panels. Those employees are devoted to the idea that we can create a new energy future for all of us. They believe in their work and are now reaping the benefits of the opportunity created by this new energy economy. When I visited them, they actually had me jump up and down on the solar panels to show that they could withstand hail damage; I am sure they would welcome the Presiding Officer from the great State of Montana to do that as well. Clearly, the people at Solar Skies are not the only ones to understand the opportunity. If you look at the leading indicator of American investment, venture capital, you will find that it reached $2.9 billion of investments in green technologies last year, up 78 percent from a year earlier. Clean technology is not only the fastest growing portion of the venture capital market, it is now the third largest category, behind only biotech and computer software. So today we have to ask ourselves, Does the United States want to be a leader in creating the new green technologies and the new green industries of the future or are we going to sit back and watch the opportunities pass us by? I am determined that we will be a leader. As you know, this is my third speech on climate change every week up through the debate. The first was an overview, and the second one was about leadership and the need to push this country forward, to be a world leader on this climate change issue and on technology. Today, we are talking about the possibilities of new jobs for this country, for our country as a whole. This is also an opportunity to create an energy-secure future, to free our country from its dependence on foreign oil. We spend literally $41 million every hour on imported oil, and much of the money simply goes back to countries that are not our friends. The Council on Foreign Relations recently studied this question, and they said: America's dependence on imported energy increases its strategic vulnerability and constrains its ability to pursue foreign policy and national security objectives. The lack of sustained attention to energy issues is undercutting U.S. foreign policy and U.S. national security. But the report also concluded that a determined conservation effort could: Unleash remarkable forces for innovation in this country. Entrepreneurs are seeking new ideas for products and services such as batteries, advanced oil and gas exploration and production techniques and biofuels. By reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases through conservation and new technology, we can reduce our use of imported oil and leave our country in a stronger international position. This is not only wishful thinking. It has worked before. Conservation initiatives enacted after the first OPEC oil embargo reduced the oil intensity of our economy, saving our country the equivalent of 15 million barrels of oil per day. Today, a comprehensive policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including higher fuel standards for cars and trucks, development of clean alternative sources of energy, and better energy efficiency standards for buildings, can do this. Look at the Chevy Volt. Two years from now, the Chevy Volt will be available for purchase. You can plug your car in, you go 30 miles, and then it transitions over to fuel. In other words, if you are driving through Montana or Minnesota and it is 10 below zero, you are done with your 30 miles, and it is not going to stop, it transitions over to fuel, and hopefully that will be alternative fuel. We can cut our oil consumption by as much as 35 percent by 2030--more than offsetting the oil we import from OPEC today--just by putting in place these higher fuel economy standards for cars and developing clean alternative sources of energy and better energy efficiency standards for our buildings. A study last year by the McKinsey Global Institute concluded that projected electricity consumption in American homes in 2020 can be reduced by more than one-third if high-efficiency measures were adopted nationwide, including lightbulbs, water heaters, kitchen appliances, room-insulation materials, and standby power. But here is what is interesting. The report warned that market forces alone, even with higher energy prices, would not be sufficient to make the most of these energy-efficient technologies. What is required is leadership from Washington, leadership from this Chamber, leadership from the White House, a new national strategy to wean the country from fossil fuels, to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, and to set the stage for this new energy economy. This is the heart of the climate change legislation that will come before us in the next few weeks: a strategy to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then use a cap-and-trade system so that the private sector achieves these reductions in the most efficient way possible. The market is ready, but it needs leadership from us. Last year, Minnesota's own Tom Friedman had a cover story in the New York Times Magazine, ``The Power of Green.'' It should be required reading for anyone who cares not only about the future of our environment but also our economic future and our future national security. In the article, Tom Friedman asks: How do our kids compete in a flatter world? How do they thrive in a warmer world? How do they survive in a more dangerous world? The answer is, in making the most of the economic and technological opportunities to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and the greenhouse gas pollution that comes from it, we do better. Friedman said that clean energy technology is going to be the next great global industry. He went on to propose the Green New Deal, one in which the Government's role is not funding projects, as in the original New Deal, but seeding basic research, providing loan guarantees where needed, and setting standards and incentives and taxes that will spawn all kinds of new technologies. We are trying to do that right now with the wind tax credit, the renewable tax credit, for geothermal and for solar and other kinds of renewable energy. I believe this is not all about cutting back or hunkering down, it is about seizing opportunity. In his words: It's about creating a new cornucopia of abundance for the next generation by inventing a whole new industry. It's about getting our best brains out of hedge funds and into innovations that will not only give us the clean-power industrial assets to preserve our American dream, but also give us the technologies that billions of others need to realize their own dreams without destroying the planet. It is about making America safer by breaking our addiction to a fuel that is powering regimes deeply hostile to our values. And, finally, it is about making America the global environmental leader, instead of a laggard. Oponents of the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill say we cannot do this because it will somehow cripple our economy. I say we cannot afford not to enact climate change legislation because global warming will cripple our economy. A recent economic study commissioned by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change concludes that, under at least one scenario, higher temperatures could cut more than $100 billion off American economic output over the next century, largely because of damage to agriculture, forestry, and commercial fishing. Now, look at this. The temperature in the last 100 years is up 1 degree. That does not sound like much until you realize it has gone up only 5 degrees since the height of the ice age. Our EPA, using data, well-founded scientific data, projects that temperatures in the next century will go up 3 to 8 degrees. So this idea that we can lose $100 billion off American economic output over the next century is not some farflung idea, it is based on scientific research. Unless we can confront this problem and confront it now, those costs will simply go higher and higher. We will also miss the opportunity for new jobs, for new products and technologies, new consumer savings, and a more responsible climate change policy. It is a big challenge. But meeting challenges is what our country does best. Just look at history. When the space race began with the launch of sputnik in October 1957, American citizens listened with indignation and fear as the first manmade satellite, a Soviet satellite, beeped its way around the Earth. Yet it inspired our Nation and its universities to make a historic investment in math and science education. Within a decade, our country tripled the number of science and engineering Ph.D.s--tripled them. In 1961, President Kennedy issued a challenge to our Nation: Put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. We answered the call. On July 20, 1969, what seemed impossible became reality when Neil Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind. But the space program was not only a success because we put a man on the Moon before the Soviets, it also spurred countless other innovations in industry. I love saying this in front of our pages because I think they were not born when this happened. To them, this is commonplace, but back then we did not have these things. This is what it has spurred. It spurred industries and innovations such as weather satellites, solar technology, digital wristwatches, ultrasound machines, laser surgery, infrared medical thermometers, programmable pacemakers, satellite TV broadcasts, high-density batteries, high-speed long distance telephone service, automatic insulin pumps, CAT scans, radiation-blocking sunglasses, GPS devices, and the little chocolate space sticks my family would take when we went on camping trips in the 1970s. That all came out because we had a President who said we have a national goal, we are all part of the same Nation, and we are going to reach the goal. We can do the same thing with climate change and energy independence. Today, it is not a Russian satellite streaming across our skies that should galvanize our Nation into action. It is the multiplying smokestacks in China, it is the receding glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica, and it is the rapidly rising global temperatures, and it is being leapfrogged by countries like Brazil that are now fuel independent because their Government put in place a policy for alternative biofuels. But just as sputnik sparked a new age of prosperity and opportunity, these trends can lead to opportunities for the strengthening of our economy and renewing our leadership in the world. In doing so, we will create a better economy for the next generation by developing whole new industries, which will not only help us preserve our American leadership in the world but will also help to deploy technologies billions of others need to realize their own dreams without destroying the planet. I believe we have the responsibility to confront a grave threat to our environment and our health. I believe we have the opportunity to do a great service to the people of this country. I believe that before us now we have the opportunity to make our economy stronger and more efficient. But it is rare that we have the opportunity to accomplish all three at once, to accomplish so many good things in one bold stroke. This rare opportunity will come before us in a few weeks when we take up the landmark Lieberman-Warner bill to address the challenge of global climate change. We must seize that opportunity. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 2 p.m. today, the Senate resume the DeMint amendment No. 4710, as modified, and that there be 20 minutes of debate prior to a vote with respect to the amendment, with 15 minutes under the control of Senator DeMint and 5 minutes under the control of Senator Dodd or his designee; that no amendment be in order to the amendment prior to the vote, and that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the amendment.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. How much is it expected to save? Is there an immediate impact we might expect in savings per gallon?

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Will the Senator yield for a question?

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I thank Senator Dorgan for his leadership in this area. He was ahead of this. Before the crisis got to the pocketbooks of Americans, he was predicting what has happened. He has been proactive about this. But can the Senator talk about the strategic reserve, the petroleum reserve? I know there is some bipartisan support for doing this, is that correct, for stopping putting our oil there?

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I join my colleagues who have come to the floor today to recognize and salute the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of Israel. Today is a great milestone for the people of Israel--and for all Americans. Ever since President Truman recognized Israel minutes after its birth on May 14, 1948, the United States and Israel have enjoyed a friendship based on values rooted in democracy and mutual strategic goals. Israel's survival and success are a remarkable testimony to the vision that inspired its creation six decades ago and to the Israeli people who have made that vision a reality . On this day of celebration, we must reflect on the course charted by the great leaders over the last six decades that have made this milestone possible. Though the journey has not always been along a straight and smooth path, each step along the way has been paved with the two fundamental and complementary tenets of the Israeli nation: resilience and faith.`` The existence of Israel across these six decades--the way it has grown and flourished--has provided security and opportunity for its citizens. It has strengthened and enhanced Jewish life around the world. And it has been a beacon of democracy that makes the entire world a safer, more hopeful place. I had the honor of traveling to Israel 2 years ago and seeing first- hand the strength and vitality of the country. I still remember the warm welcome I received from the Israeli people, as well as the courage and pride they bring to everyday life. I was honored to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon just a few weeks before his tragic stroke, and I will value forever the lessons I learned from our conversation. Today, America's and Israel's interests in the Middle East and around the world have never been more closely aligned. Our common values and objectives continue to drive us to meet the challenges we face, and to pursue opportunities for greater peace and prosperity. We are in the midst of turbulent times, with. instability threatening to spread across the Middle East. But the people of Israel must know that wherever forces of intolerance gather to endanger their safety or security, the United States will stand beside them in defying and defeating these foes. By continuing to support Israel, we support stability and democracy and we can make further progress toward peace in the region. I ask that my colleagues join with me in congratulating and celebrating with the people of Israel on the 60th anniversary of the founding of their nation, and that we renew our commitment to ensuring that we will continue to celebrate each successive anniversary for decades to come.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, as under a previous order, the time until 5:30 p.m. Monday will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. As previously announced, there will be no rollcall votes Monday. Senators should expect a series of votes to begin as early as 11 a.m. Tuesday.