mr. chairman , i thank the chairman for working with me to put this into the base bill .  since 1999 natural gas prices have more than tripled to over $ 7 .  it is off the charts now .  it is projected that if we do not do anything about natural gas supplies , it could reach $ 13 , $ 14 by 2020 .  what does that mean ?  it means higher heating bills ; 65 percent of my constituents heat their homes in nebraska by natural gas .  by the way , we have lost , mr. chairman , about 3 million jobs in the industrial manufacturing bases .  just for our farmers , our agricultural folks in the midwest , farmers have seen the prices of nitrogen fertilizer increase from $ 175 per ton in 2000 to more than $ 400 this planting season , and we have lost half of our fertilizer manufacturers chasing the lower natural gas prices .  mr. chairman , in regard to safety , the gentleman wrote into this language specifically giving the states the right to participate in this process , and i encourage my colleagues to vote `` no . '' 