One of the most vivid examples of effects of the energy crisis came not when I was visiting a gas station, but rather when I was assessing tornado damage near Soldier, Kansas. I met with Mr. John Grau, who runs a cattle operation, near what used to be his home until the June 11 tornados reduced it to a basement open to the sky. He and his wife had taken shelter there and miraculously, were not injured in the storm.

Despite everything they had been through and everything they would face as they began to recover from their losses, Mr. Grau instead chose to talk to me about gas prices. He said that he was going to be alright after the storms, but that we really had to do something because the high cost of gas was a real hardship for his employees, neighbors and friends.

I have been retelling this story to anyone who will listen. And it is making an impact.

We know that we cannot tax our way out of high energy prices. We must enact a long term and comprehensive strategy that steers the nation in the right direction so that we are not at the mercy of the gas pump. The strategy is simple: Adopt policies that lessen demand on energy and create more energy here at home, from sources upon which we can depend. We need action on this strategy, and we need it now if we are to ever see affordable energy in the years to come.

I support a bill called the Gas Price Reduction Act that takes these necessary steps. The bill has 44 cosponsors in the Senate, and I am fighting hard to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote.

Here’s what it would do: The bill would tap as much as fourteen billion barrels of oil along the Atlantic and Pacific - more than all U.S. imports from Persian Gulf countries over the last 15 years. The legislation would also open up three times the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia through western state oil shale exploration. The bill encourages alternative sources of energy including plug in electric vehicles through the development of better batteries to maximize electricity range and use less gas.

Despite the best efforts of many of us to force votes on these issues, including some who even kept debating on the House floor after the lights and cameras were turned off, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) chose to sidestep debate on real solutions to avoid taking a vote on drilling. The end result is that the issue remains unresolved.

Clearly Kansans, and the rest of the nation that increasingly supports drilling, know what needs to be done. We need action on a long term comprehensive solution for the nation which would find more and use less energy. We can start by passing the Gas Price Reduction Act.