madam chairman , i rise today in strong support of h.r. 6 , the energy policy act of 2005 . 
wyoming is often called the energy basket of america , but people in my state who are taking out emergency loans just to fill up their pickup 's tanks would not know it . 
in my home town of casper , gas is $ 2.10 a gallon ; in cheyenne it is almost $ 2.20 . 
it is $ 2.30 in riverton and $ 2.40 in jackson . 
madam chairman , that is just too much . 
some of the people around the country who pay close to $ 3 a gallon might think wyoming 's prices are a bargain . 
but remember , wyoming covers almost 100 , 000 square miles . 
that is a lot of miles on the highway to do business , and a lot of money at the gas pump . 
wyoming can not support subways or mass transit when we do not have masses in the first place . 
this spike in gas prices has real consequences for people in wyoming whose drives to work are measured not by the length of the country and western song on the radio , but by the entire country and western album . 
when our country was threatened by terror attacks on 9/11 , congress acted . 
now congress is called upon to act again . 
to keep our economy sound in wyoming , we must pass this energy plan . 
this bill will cut our reliance on foreign energy and put our focus where it belongs , on domestic production . 
would you rather get the oil we need from the middle east or from midwest wyoming ? 
i know where i stand , and i have a number of bills within this package that address domestic energy production . 
it seems i have spent most of my congressional lifetime helping to develop this package , so i know a little bit about it . 
it will strengthen america 's standing as the nation with the most strict environmental laws on earth . 
it will streamline the process to safely explore for new energy sources and put us on the road to energy self-sufficiency . 
the opponents of this bill urge a `` no '' vote because it is not a quick fix at the pump . 
madam chairman , since when does a quick fix actually fix anything ? 
when does a `` no '' vote without an alternative actually fix anything ? 
what america needs and what we have needed for a long time , for more than a generation , is a comprehensive energy plan . 
i urge my colleagues to support the plan before us today . 
