Congress lacks nerve to take on oil

Our cowardly liberal congressmen have chosen to go on vacation now, completely ignoring 75 percent of the country's wishes to drill.

Why are they cowards? Because they do not want to go on record as favoring drilling offshore in an election year. Because if they did, the environmentalists would have their heads.

Even though the safety records of oil platforms throughout the world have taken the environmental issue off the table.

Obviously, they want you to continue paying $4 a gallon at the pump and even higher.

The hot issue in the country is energy. Everyone wants lower energy prices. Everyone wants environmental protection, but everyone also wants future security from terrorists and rogue regimes throughout the world.

Of these desires, the most important is safety from terrorists and despotic regimes. And that safety will come for several reasons as a result of increasing our independence on our own energy supplies, which increased domestic drilling will provide.

The first reason is that we will reduce the possibility of a catastrophic economic hit if foreign sources of oil are cutoff. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve would only last three months.

Another reason would be an Iranian action to blockade the Straits of Hormuz, where a significant percentage of the world's oil shipments flow.

Another reason is money.

If our own oil production increases eventually to completely satisfy our energy demands, oil prices worldwide would plummet.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran would have less wealth to divert to financing and arming terrorists and Jihadist countries.

Offshore drilling, oil shale mining, ANWR development and restarting our nuclear power plant construction program is vital to our homeland security.

While it is worthwhile pursuing alternative energy programs, I believe unfortunately we do not have the talent to come up with the ultimate energy solution.

Until that scientist emerges, we must make do with known energy sources. We need to do this now. We can't wait any longer.

Bush needs to bring our congressman back from recess now to resolve this.

Dave Souders

Arlington Heights