Domenici said Sen. Reid is a chicken

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) met today to introduce legislation, the Gas Price Reduction Act, as well as support the President’s lifting the administrative ban on offshore exploration. The senators criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (R-Nev.) plan saying he was only offering half of a roadmap.

Domenici said that there has never been a modern day analysis of the offshore potential and that the United States could be getting “double, triple or quadruple what we currently have right now as numbers.” He called the energy and economic crisis the most important issue of the day. Domenici said that because Reid will support no votes on anything that deals with production, Harry Reid is either scared, chicken to have a vote or he’s decided that he’s is going to dictate to the U.S. senate.”

Alexander said that “the key to bringing down record-high gas prices is to find more American energy.” The legislation he is proposing will allow states to decide for themselves if they will take up offshore drilling and having them receive some of the profits. Alexander said that he would not support legislation that only solved part of the problem, and that Reid was only offering a partial solution in alternative energy by not exploring American energy.