By by Kerry Whipple Bean – publisher
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions will serve on the energy committee this year - a position he said can benefit Alabama since the state has the potential to become a leader in biofuels technology.
Sessions, R-Ala., was in Brewton late last month to tape an interview with Mayor Ted Jennings for Brewton TV. The interview will be airing soon on cable channel 6.
Sessions likened the wood energy process - which uses microbes to break down the timber and make ethanol - to the same process that makes moonshine.
Other new developments for the energy industry include a bill to allow offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico - which could produce $5 million in the first year for Alabama, Sessions said.
His interview with Jennings touched on several topics, from last November's election to the war in Iraq.
The election - which gave control of the House and Senate to Democrats - was a message that Americans were not happy with Congress, Sessions said.
Sessions said he wished President Bush had decided to make a change at the Pentagon before the election. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld did not announce his resignation until days after the election.
Sessions said he is looking forward to the changes that could come in the new year for the military in Iraq. Bush is expected to announce a new direction for Iraq policy soon.
Other issues that will face Congress this year include continued immigration reform, Sessions said. His proposal to build a fence along the border passed last year, although money for the project was not included in the bill.
Sessions said he also hopes to encourage Congress to pass legislation that would allow every American to have a savings and retirement account to which all employers would make contributions.