DOMENICI REAFFIRMS HIS COMMITMENT TO PASSING H.R. 6 IN WAKE OF BUSH'S RENEWED CALL FOR ENERGY BILL

January 20, 2004
12:00 AM
Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy Chairman Pete V. Domenici tonight reaffirmed his commitment to passing H.R. 6 through the Senate in a statement released following President Bush’s State of the Union address. Domenici’s statement: "For the third consecutive year, President Bush has called on Congress to pass an energy bill. We are closer to that goal today than we have been any time in these last three years. We are almost there. I am confident I can nail down the votes we need for cloture, but I'm still concerned about the budget points of order that will likely be raised. "In the next few weeks, I will be working closely with House leadership to see what steps we can take to get the last few votes we need for final passage. The one option I absolutely will not consider is breaking this bill up. I will resist such an effort with every resource I have. It's the start of the year and we're only two votes down. It's far too early to talk about breaking this bill up. I intend to focus on final passage. I urge my colleagues to do likewise."