mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i guess i'm one of several senators who doesn't know for sure what's going to happen tonight or tomorrow. i do know that we have one very contentious issue in the pipeline. several people have been talking about this. and i'd like to give perhaps a different, maybe an historic perspective on this issue as we're looking at it. i think it's, with all the talk and all the demagogy on the fact that people think that they want us to be independent from the middle east producing our energy when in fact we have the recoverable resources here in the united states to be totally independent. the north american continent could be totally independent in providing its own energy. and we're the only country in the world that doesn't exploit its own, its own reso

mr. inhofe: mr. president, let me thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: and the chairman of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to have this colloquy because something has happened that shouldn't have happened, and it happened over on the house side. we had no control over it. while i support and will vote for the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, this is the third year in a row that we bypassed the former conference process, and i'm pleased we finished the bill, but this broken process allows for abuse. we have certainly had some abuse that i will just allude to here. if the proper procedure had been followed, some of these problems would not have happened. on december 3, the house armed services committee staff inserted new language into the conference that would impact how d.o.d. maintains its shifts, maintains its aircraft, maintains its ground vehicles, private and public, impacting thousands of jobs in a number of states. that was december 3. it wasn't until the morning of december 7 that i along with several other senators were

mr. inhofe: well, i do appreciate that. and i sometimes -- sometimes we stand on the floor here and we talk about jobs. but you are the evidence -- you know, oklahoma has a big dog in this fight, not only do we have cushing -- when the senator from north dakota has talked about cork. that's cork, oklahoma, right there on his -- that's cushing, oklahoma, right there on his map. all kind of converged and there's no way of getting down to texas without going through what we have in oklahoma. but more so, if you don't think this is a jobs bill, you have a very famous oklahoman working in your state -- i would say harold hamm is probably the number-one producer up there today. i've talked to him. you know what his biggest problem is up in oklahoma? he can't find everyone to work. they're full employed up there. what better evidence is there that this solves the problem, than the jobthis is a jobs bille jobs in oklahoma? this is just an example of what this administration has been trying to do. they've been trying to kill fossil

mr. mccain: on behalf of senator inhofe i ask to withdraw amendment number 1093. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: mr. president, very briefly i'd like to congratulate both senators for their leadership on this issue. there is a threat to the security of the world posed by the islamic nation of iran. this is much-needed legislation. i think it's important to note as they did that there is a national security waiver given to the president of the united states and also we cannot expect a lot of help, considering the membership of the united nations security council and russia and china's unwillingness to work on behalf of reining in this inexorable path that iran is on to the acquisition and the possibility or the capability of the use of nuclear weapons. i congratulate both the sponsors of the amendment and hope we can get a recorded vote. i'm sure that's what they want, others possible. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. udall: i know a vote is imminent. i wanted to rise at this time in support of the feinst

mr. chairman, when they do, make the most of it. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, senator. >> senator inhofe would be next, and is it senator sessions next? thank you, sir. go ahead. i'd like to pursue the report issue, and the issue of a chairman and the allegation the chairman feels it's appropriate to be objective on with regard to information that gets to the other members of the board because i think that's pretty important with regard to the integrity of everything you do. i believe as board members, you have a right to insist on that. when asked about that yesterday by chairman issa, this was the question, "is it true that any information that you have has ever been withheld on your request?" he replays, "not that i'm aware of, and i work every day to ensure that the commission has the information it needs." i guess i'd ask don't you think that the commission -- that the chairman is not entitled to decide the information that you need? that you're entitled to have the information that the commission and the staff has? >> senator sessions, i think it's in order for us to vote on matters to come before us, we have to have the f

mr. chairman, when they make the most of of -- when they do, make the most of it. >> of inhofe would be next, and is it senator sessions next? >> i would like to pursue the report issued and the chairman's -- the allegations the chairman feels is appropriate to be -- with regard to information that gets to the other members of the board, because that is pretty important with regard to the integrity of everything that you do. as board members, you have a right to insist on that. asked about that yesterday by chairman issa, mr. jaczko, is it correct any information you have has ever been withheld on your request, and he replied, not that i am aware of. i work every day to ensure the commission has the information it needs. i guess i would ask mr. ostendorff, don't you think the commission -- that the chairman is not entitled to decide information you need that you are entitled to have the information that the commission and its staff has pro? >> in order for us to fulfil our responsibilities, we need to have the full information and the full the views on influenced by the senior staff. -- unin