In 1973, America imported 30 percent of its crude oil needs. Today, that number has doubled to more than 60 percent. Gas prices are as high as they are now in part because we’ve had no comprehensive national energy policy for the past few decades.

I became a general contractor in my early 20s. I have been in the business for over 35 years.

Today, currently, business owners can go out and find out if the person they are hiring is eligible to work here or if they are not. We need to think about how we are impacting workers.

A variety of factors contribute to the price of gasoline in the United States. These factors include worldwide supply, demand and competition for crude oil, taxes, regional differences in access to gasoline supplies and environmental regulations.

Hospitals must provide emergency treatment to all who walk through the door, regardless of their citizenship status or ability to pay.

The United States’ gasoline industry, as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated, is remarkably fragile. And the process of how oil is pumped from the ground, turned into gasoline and distributed to consumers is complicated.

Rather than waiting to restore fiscal responsibility after we pass legislation, we must work to ensure we remain committed to it as we draft legislation.

An American worker should not expect his pay to be cut because somebody comes to this country illegally and is willing to work for less than he or she should be paid.

California has the highest number of illegal immigrants residing in its borders. The estimated number of illegal alien residents in California was about 2.2 million, or nearly 32 percent of the total number of illegal immigrants in the United States.

An estimated 7 million illegal immigrants were residing in the United States in January 2000. This is double the size of the illegal immigrant population in January 1990 and constitutes 2.5 percent of the total U.S. population of just over 281 million.

Many talk about a guest worker program. I think most reasonable people believe that a guest worker program in the farming industry, perhaps in the gardening and landscape industries, is reasonable.

In 1973, America imported 30 percent of its crude oil needs. Today, that number has doubled to more than 60 percent. Gas prices are as high as they are now in part because we’ve had no comprehensive national energy policy for the past few decades.

Today more than 20,000 communities participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. More than 90 insurance companies sell and service flood service insurance. There are more than four million policies covering the total of $800 billion.

Global crude oil demand is increasing, particularly in places like China.

Emergency health care for illegal aliens along the southwestern border is already costing area hospitals $200 million a year, with perhaps another $100 million in extended care costs.

The Asian nation’s oil demand is expected to grow this year by 800,000 barrels per day and represents more than one-third of the total growth in global demand, according to the Energy Information Agency.

In 2001, America ‘s hospitals provided nearly $21 billion in uncompensated health care services.

The National Flood Insurance Program is a valuable tool in addressing the losses incurred throughout this country due to floods. It assures that businesses and families have access to affordable flood insurance that would not be available on the open market.

In the United States, oil demand is projected to grow by 340,000 barrels per day this year and gasoline demand is projected to grow nearly two percent, averaging 9.3 million barrels per day for the summer.

Energy companies, such as Chevron and Shell, and oil producing countries, such as Kuwait and Venezuela, pump crude oil from their vast land holdings and sell it on the world market.

The price of crude oil accounts for 55 percent of the price of a gallon of gasoline, driven by global supply and demand. The United States depends on foreign sources of oil for 62 percent of our nation’s supply. By 2010, this is projected to jump to 75 percent.