Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Nation's Security on the Line: T. Boone Pickens says "Time to Stop Digging"

T. Boone Pickens spoke plainly as he testified to the Homeland Security Panel which Senator Joseph Lieberman chairs and Senator Susan Collins serves as Ranking Member.

Pickens stated:
“We are more fragile today, from a national security standpoint, than we have been since World War II. This danger stems directly from our overwhelming dependence on foreign oil, which has risen from 24 percent in 1970 to 70 percent today. What worries me, and what should worry this committee and the American people, is that much of this dependence is on oil that comes from countries that are not our friends. And in some cases, this dependence on their oil has placed the US in the position of paying for the tools these countries use to embrace, export and manifest their ideology that would like to see us fail as a democracy and as the leader of the free world.

"And further, by spending this $700 billion year importing oil– more than four times the cost of the Iraqi War -- we are strangling our economy and putting ourselves and our nation in greater harm’s way. All without our enemies ever having to raise a hand in anger. This is more than a disturbing trend line. It is a recipe for national disaster. This is a crisis that cannot be left to the next generation to solve and shame on all of us if we don’t grab this bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. And we must do it now. I have been traveling all around the country with a simple message – that our country is in a deep hole and it’s time to stop digging. I have a plan where we can do this in a way that actually improves our economy and our way of life, and I have to tell you the response to the plan has been tremendous.”
Click here for Picken's 5 points as reported by Business Wire:

"T. Boone Pickens to Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee: National Security Is Jeopardized by Crippling $700 Billion Dependence on Foreign Oil from Countries We Cannot Trust with our Future."

Click here for more detail on Picken's Plan.


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