[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 13 (Tuesday, February 7, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S772-S773]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DOMENICI (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Talent, and Mr. 
        Dorgan):
  S. 2253. A bill to require the Secretary of the Interior to offer the 
181 Area of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, today, I introduce a bill to direct the 
Secretary of the Interior to hold a lease sale within one year in the 
area known as 181. This bill does not in any way alter the moratorium 
law on the OCS. The areas covered under this bill are not under 
executive or congressional moratorium. Furthermore, this bill protects 
a 100 mile buffer from the coastline of the State of Florida and it 
protects the prerogative of the United States armed forces to perform 
military activities in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. These protections 
are explicit in the bill and can not be disputed.
  But more than that, this bill seeks to protect the American people 
from the rising cost of heating their homes. Only six years ago, the 
price of natural gas in the U.S. was $2 per million btu. In the past 
few months, we have witnessed the price of natural gas rise above as 
much as $14 per million btu. This morning, amidst a winter of above-
average temperatures throughout much of the United States, the price of 
natural gas was over $8 per million btu. In countries competing for our 
jobs, the price of the same commodity is substantially cheaper than 
that, in some cases one or two dollars per million btu. This increase 
in cost and volatility in the price of natural gas in the United States 
should have the immediate attention of our Nation's policy makers.
  The effects of the rising price of natural gas cut across every major 
sector of our Nation's economy. Natural gas is used as a major source 
for electricity generation, home heating, cooling and cooking, and as 
an essential feedstock for the production of ammonia for use in 
fertilizer production. It is necessary to the manufacturing of fabrics, 
glass, steel, plastics and paint. In short, affordable natural gas is 
of relevance to every region and each State in this country and it is 
essential to maintaining our Nation's long-term sustained economic 
growth. Think of the one-two punch that will be dealt to the American 
consumer if the U.S. housing market fails to sustain its unprecedented 
growth of the last few years and energy costs continue to rise. The 
Federal Reserve estimated that in 2004, the American people had 
approximately $600 billion in their pockets from refinancing and home 
equity loans. But an increasing amount of that money is going right 
back out to pay the added costs of heating those homes. Over a six year 
period, America's natural gas bill has risen from $50 billion to $200 
billion. That is $150 billion less that the American people have to 
spend, save and invest. And it serves as an additional burden on the 
businesses that drive this nation's economy. This burden acts as a tax 
on the American people and only serves to stymie growth.
  With this bill we seek to alleviate some of that burden. We direct 
the Department of the Interior to lease an area that holds a potential 
of nearly 5 tcf of gas. That is enough natural gas to heat and cool 
approximately five million homes for a period of 15 years. The natural 
gas from this area will have a real, substantial effect on the market 
and thus on the American consumer. Opening up this area will send an 
immediate signal to the natural gas market that Congress is pushing to 
quickly open up an area for production with great potential for a 
significant new supply of natural gas. The area is close to existing 
infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico and is the best hope for a large 
infusion of natural gas on the market in the near term.
  This bill presents a choice between affordable natural gas versus 
burying our heads in the sand while American people foot the bill and 
manufacturing jobs head overseas. There is certainly bipartisan support 
for the idea of relieving the energy costs of the American consumer, 
and I think that opening Lease Sale 181 helps us achieve this goal.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2253

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING IN 181 AREA OF GULF 
                   OF MEXICO.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) 181 area.--The term ``181 Area'' means the area 
     identified in map 15, page 58, of the Proposed Final Outer 
     Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 1997-2002 
     of the Minerals Management Service.
       (2) Military mission line.--The term ``Military Mission 
     Line'' means the north-south line at 8641' W. longitude.
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior, acting through the Minerals Management 
     Service.
       (b) Lease Sale.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
     section, the Secretary shall offer the 181 Area for oil and 
     gas leasing pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 
     (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) as soon as practicable, but not 
     later than 1 year, after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Excluded Areas.--In carrying out subsection (b), the 
     Secretary shall not offer for oil and gas leasing--
       (1) any area east of the Military Mission Line, unless the 
     Secretary of Defense agrees in writing before the area is 
     offered for lease that the area can be developed in a manner 
     that will not interfere with military activities; or

[[Page S773]]

       (2) any area that is within 100 miles of the coastline of 
     the State of Florida.
       (d) Leasing Program.--The 181 Area shall be offered for 
     lease under this section notwithstanding the omission of the 
     181 Area from any outer Continental Shelf leasing program 
     under section 18 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
     U.S.C. 1344).

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to cosponsor the bill 
offered by the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. 
This legislation would require the Secretary of the Interior to offer 
for oil and gas lease certain lands within the original Lease Sale 181 
Area in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. The lease sale is to 
be conducted within 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
legislation.
  The original Lease Sale 181 Area was proposed in 1997 by the Clinton 
administration after negotiations with the late Governor Lawton Chiles. 
The area to be leased under the bill includes only a portion of the 
original sale area, and does nothing to affect areas currently under 
congressional moratoria or Presidential withdrawal. No part of the area 
to be leased under the bill is closer than 100 miles from the Florida 
coastline. The so-called ``stovepipe'' portion of the original lease 
sale area is not included in the area to be leased under the bill. 
Leasing east of the Military Mission line under the bill can occur only 
with the prior written agreement of the Secretary of Defense that such 
area can be developed in a manner that will not interfere with military 
activities.
  The area to be leased under the bill is estimated to contain some 
6.03Tcf of natural gas and 0.93 billion barrels of oil. In this time of 
record high oil and gas prices, these energy resources can make a 
significant contribution to our domestic energy supply. Much of the 
necessary energy infrastructure is already in place in this region, so 
production can come online and be marketed in the near term.
  The lease sale is to take place within a year after the date of 
enactment of the provision. This time frame is intended to allow full 
compliance with all applicable environmental laws. It is our 
expectation that expeditious, but complete, environmental compliance 
will be undertaken by the relevant agencies.
  I regret that large portions of this sale area were previously made 
off limits by the current administration. In 2001, Secretary Norton 
reduced the size of the area to be offered in Lease Sale 181 from 5.9 
million acres to 1.5 million acres. This action took off the table over 
61 percent of the gas resources, some 7 Tcf, and 5-percent of the oil 
resources, about a billion barrels, estimated to be in the original 
area.
  Directing the Secretary to offer for lease these additional portions 
of the Lease Sale 181 Area is one thing that the Congress can do to 
address our energy situation in the near term. It is past time to 
proceed with leasing the area that would be made available by the bill. 
I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
                                 ______