Senate Proceeding on Jul 29th, 2008 :: 0:43:38 to 0:54:09
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0:43:23 to 0:43:38( Edit History Discussion )

housing bill and a $158 economic stimulus package because we are concerned about the economy and let's assume we are successful in dealing with those problems, do you see the rising costs of gasoline

0:43:38 to 0:43:50( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: and oil and energy as big or maybe even a bigger threat, ultimately, to the economy, and that it might have the very direct effect of putting us into a bona fide recession? mr. kyl: if i could. respond

0:43:38 to 0:54:09( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bill Nelson

0:43:50 to 0:44:05( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: to that there was an article i believe in the "wall street journal" yesterday, and the point of the article was that while we may not have technically been in a recession, the definition of which is

0:44:05 to 0:44:16( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: two quarters of negative economic growth consecutive, the reality is, because of inflation, primarily falled by high fuel costs which reflects itself in everything from higher food prices to higher

0:44:16 to 0:44:26( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: transportation costs which then find their way into the products that we buy, because of that inflationary pressure, the reality is that for most americans, we are feeling the same effects as if

0:44:26 to 0:44:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: we were in a recession and that the heart of this is the energy problem is that if we could solve this energy problem in a balanced way from the electricity production through nuclear power, through

0:44:39 to 0:44:52( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: offshore, and through reducing our demand, that would have an effect on our future economic health and, obviously, on every american family in this country. mr. alexander: we should work across party

0:44:52 to 0:45:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: lines to find more american energy, use less, and bring down prices. i thank the president. i thank the senators from arizona and texas. i yield the floor. | mr. nelson: mr. president? the presiding officer:

0:45:07 to 0:45:26( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the senator from florida. mr. nelson: mrpresident, i ask consent that the time controlled by the majority be divided as follows: ten minutes for myself, 15 minutes for senator bingaman, and five

0:45:26 to 0:45:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: minutes for senator schumer. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president, i ask consent that katherine zebro zebrowski, a fellow in senator brown's office, be granted

0:45:47 to 0:46:04( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the privileges of the floor during consideration of s. 3335, the jobs, energy, families, and disaster relief act of 2008. the presiding officer: without objection, s o ordered. mr. nelson: mr. president,

0:46:04 to 0:46:20( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: i came here to spe about a personal tragedy in the lives of a florida family, but i just want to say at the outset, here we go with all this are talk about it's a certain way or the highway to solve

0:46:20 to 0:46:35( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: this energy problem. and, as i said on the floor of the senate a few days ago, if we had the political will where we could take a balanced approach of looking not only at now and drill in what's

0:46:35 to 0:46:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: available but look to the future for alternatives and renewables so that we wean ourselves ourselves from this dependence on, specifically, foreign oil but also on our dependence for decades in the future

0:46:47 to 0:47:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: on oil, as the the staple of our energy, realizing that if we continue to do that, we are just going to be digging a hole for our self, maintaining dependence on oil as the number-one source of energy.

0:47:07 to 0:47:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: i mean, don't we have enough evidence now that when you have to depend on upwards of 75% of foreign oil, that that's not a good economic posture as well as a defense pos fewer posture for national

0:47:22 to 0:47:35( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: security for this country? don't we have enough evidence now that the united states has only 3% of the world's oil reserves and yet we consume 25% of the world's oil production? and is that not enough

0:47:35 to 0:47:51( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: to get it through our skulls that the way of the future for this country is to cut that dependence on oil and go to alternative sources? and we're confronting here -- that side of the aisle that is very

0:47:51 to 0:48:04( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: cozy with big oil that want to have it all their way and say say, just drill here, drill now; a simple slogan, when in fact it's a lot more complicated than that. and yet we can't gret agreement

0:48:04 to 0:48:18( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: here to do what -- and yet we can't get agreement here to do what all of us understand is the commonsense thing to do; and that is, bring a comprehensive measure in which you start doing a number

0:48:18 to 0:48:29( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: of things at once, including pouring the money into research and development and financial incentives such as tax incentives to develop new source sources, alternative fuels. that's the way to go. and

0:48:29 to 0:48:41( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: yet we hear this high-blown rhetoric about just drill here, drill now. well, it's with a heavy heart that i have to continue to say what i just said, because all we are is wound around the axle here

0:48:41 to 0:48:55( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: in the senate. since you can't get anything passed unless you he 60 votes, and if you can't get the two sides to get along, you have what we have, which is gridlock. but it is with a heavy heart that

0:48:55 to 0:49:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: i come here for another reason, and that is that an american who was discriminate ed against and who lived a life of trying to overcome that discrimination and was not treat treated fairly by his government

0:49:13 to 0:49:26( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: unexpectedly died on sunday, and this is samuel snow from leesburg, florida. and i want to tell you this story, because i want people to be outraged, as this senator is, the way he was treated by the

0:49:26 to 0:49:47( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: united states government. mr. president, i'm going to ask consent that two articles -- one from "the "seattle post" intelligence "the seattle postintelligencer" "" from november of 2007, as well as

0:49:47 to 0:50:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: the "st. peters petersburg times" from july 28 of this year -- be inserted in the record after my comments. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. nelson: mr. president, back in 1944, 27 african-american

0:50:13 to 0:50:34( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: soldiers were convicted of rioting and lynching an italian prisoner of war at ft. l lawton, washington. among those convicted was sam snow. following his conviction, he was imprisoned for almost a year,

0:50:34 to 0:50:57( Edit History Discussion )

force ed to forfeit his pay, and then when he was release ed from prison, he was discharge ed with a dishonorable discharge. and until recently, there was no hope of him receiving any kind of future

0:50:57 to 0:51:19( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: help or retirement benefits from his admirable service during world war ii. sunday, sam snow passed away -- not had his home of leesburg, florida, but in seattle, washington, because he had gone there traveling

0:51:19 to 0:51:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: across the country for a ceremony that the u.s. army was going to apologize and award sam snow with an honor honorable discharge, because for more than 64 years sam snow had endured this injustice,

0:51:39 to 0:52:04( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: imprison imprisoned, ordered to forfeit his pay, dishonorably discharge ed discharged, and it was all wrong wrong. and the u.s. army never got around to change ing things until an investigative reporter

0:52:04 to 0:52:25( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: in seattle suddenly uncovered this in a book that he wrote a few years ago. and so the army last saturday was presentin sam snow with his honorable discharge, but he got to feeling bad. his son

0:52:25 to 0:52:42( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: had to go and accept the honorable discharge for him. and his son brought it back to him where he was feeling well -- feeling ill. he clutched it in his hands and a few hours later he died. after

0:52:42 to 0:52:56( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: that dishonorable dis discharge, 64 years ago, he returned to his hometown of leesburg, florida, with a dishonorable discharge. he took a job as a janitor. he took on odd jobs. he even was a neighborhood

0:52:56 to 0:53:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: handy handyman. and last year when the army over overturned his and those other surviving veterans' convictions, they decide ed they were going to give him his back pay that they had taken away

0:53:22 to 0:53:33( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: from him when he was imprisoned for almost a year year. you know how much that was? it was $725. 1944 dollars. and when a bunch of us heard about it, we petitioned the department of the army -- the

0:53:33 to 0:53:46( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: presiding officer: the senator has use ed ten minutes. mr. nelson: okay. then, mr. president, i will insert the rest of my comments with permission. i wish i could tell the story, and i'll do it later

0:53:46 to 0:53:57( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: on and complete the story. i would ask consent that the rest of my remarks be inserted in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. bingaman: mr. president? t the presiding

0:53:57 to 0:54:09( Edit History Discussion )

Bill Nelson: officer: teshe senator from new mexico. mr. bingaman: mr. president, i wanted to talk about the two different energy packages that we are debate ing here in the senate this week, because there are two.

0:54:09 to 0:54:25( Edit History Discussion )

Jeff Bingaman: there's not just the one that the senator from tennessee and the senator from texas and the senator from arizona were talking about earlier. there's two. and i think we need to fobbing focus on both.

0:54:09 to 1:03:43( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Jeff Bingaman