There were
a lot of reasons to vote against the final version of the fiscally irresponsible energy bill in the Senate today. The bill does little to help consumers or lower gasoline prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That's not to mention the billions of dollars in tax breaks and other subsidies to the oil and gas industry, which is reaping record profits while consumers are paying more and more at the pump.
But one thing that happened to the bill in the conference committee was particularly startling to me today. A provision was tucked into the 1,700 page energy bill conference report that would ease export restrictions on bomb-grade uranium. This was a provision I and a majority of my colleagues in the Senate opposed last month but it was included in the final bill.
At a time when national security should be our highest priority, it is indefensible that such a reckless attitude is being taken about a material that we should be working to safeguard from those who wish to do us harm.
This is exactly the wrong direction in which we should be moving. What we should be doing is focusing on th fight against terrorism. Stevo was nice enough to post a diary about the speech I gave this week on this issue.
Focusing on the fight against terrorism means putting Iraq in the context of a broader national security vision. It means refocusing US efforts on a global campaign to expose terrorist networks, to deny them opportunities to sustain themselves and grow, and to defeat them decisively. And it means ensuring that our policies in Iraq and elsewhere are consistent with and advance the fight against terror.