[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 18, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PROBLEMS WITH HOUSE OFFSHORE DRILLING BILL

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
to speak out of order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
California is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House, 
the offshore oil drilling legislation that passed the House last month 
has a lot of problems. One of its biggest failings is that the bill 
overrides and ignores the long-standing, bipartisan objection to new 
drilling off the California coast.
  The people of California have repeatedly made it clear that they 
oppose this wrong-headed approach. In fact, opposition to this 
legislation is unanimous in California that even in the middle of a 
highly charged race for Governor, the Democrats and Republicans are on 
the same page on this one issue. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a 
Democrat, opposes the House bill, pointing out that it would remove the 
critical protections for California's coastline and also financially 
punish States that decide to protect their environment and coastal 
economies by continuing to oppose offshore oil drilling.
  The Republican Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, sent another letter 
to the Senate this week restating his opposition in no uncertain terms. 
In his newest letter, which I am submitting for the Record, he writes: 
``Our coast is not for sale, and no amount of promises of money or 
other incentives will alter my position on that.''
  Well, I am disappointed that so many Members of the House voted 
against California's interests last month. Our State's Senators have 
strong records of spelling for the people of California, so I am not 
concerned about them. But I do want to make sure that the Senators from 
around the country realize that any legislation that opens the 
California coast to drilling will be a non-starter in our State and 
should be rejected.
  As the Governor wrote: ``Anything short of upholding the current 
moratorium in perpetuity would be unacceptable to Californians.'' 
Governor Schwarzenegger also wrote something very interesting: 
``California has the most aggressive energy efficiency measures in the 
Nation. Because of our efforts, California's per capita energy use has 
remained nearly flat, while the nationwide energy use has increased by 
nearly 50 percent.''
  What the Governor is telling the people of this Nation is that had 
you made the same choices that we made starting back in 1974 with the 
first fuel crisis, you would have been able to save a huge amount of 
energy in this country. While California has continued to grow, our per 
capita use has remained flat, and that is 50 percent better than the 
rest of the Nation. That means that not only do California consumers 
save a great deal of energy and they reduce the pollution to the 
atmosphere; they also save a great deal of money.
  As the other body considers the legislation that was passed out of 
this House this last week, I hope they will remember that energy 
conservation and innovative alternative approaches will guarantee us 
far more energy independence in the future than the shortsighted House 
bill that will require the ruining of the coastlines of this great 
Nation.

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