madam chairman , i thank the chairman of the committee on resources for yielding me this time . 
this is a perennial amendment we have . 
this energy bill provides for production , conservation and research , but anwr is one of the most important production parts . 
granted we can not produce ourselves out of these high energy prices , but we have to produce in our own country if we ever expect to lower the prices . 
our nation needs more energy . 
our economy , consumers and workers bid against china , europe and india 's economies for every barrel of middle eastern , african and venezuelan oil . 
the congress so far has refused to open promising offshore areas to exploration , even as cuba , employing spanish and chinese energy companies , is drilling 60 miles from the florida keys , much closer than we allow american companies to do . 
no nation can produce energy more responsibly than ours . 
energy production is not like it used to be 50 , 25 or even 10 years ago . 
it is much cleaner and much more scrutinized . 
supporting only long-term solutions and conservation is important , but not enough . 
our cars get 25 percent of their gas from u.s. lands , but our children will see even less if we do not produce at home . 
two-thirds of the world 's oil reserves are in the middle east , controlled by opec . 
if they act as a cartel , they will control the world price of oil for the foreseeable future . 
if we allow domestic production to die out , conservation and research will not save us and we will have to pay a terrible economic price . 
if we allow production in anwr , we will see great benefits at a very low , temporary cost and see thousands of good-paying jobs created over the next 25 years . 
the caribou , bears , birds and other wildlife can thrive just as they have at prudhoe bay . 
tanker accidents will be prevented by new , double-hulled oil tankers and environmental impacts overall will be much less . 
drill sites are much smaller today and we use fewer wells with our new drilling technology . 
permanent gravel roads are no longer necessary if we use the winter ice road . 
the doom and gloom scenarios by opponents of anwr oil are inaccurate and not based on reality . 
i have been there many times , madam chairman , and i can tell you that we can produce it and the bears and the caribou will be in anwr just like they are in prudhoe bay . 
