[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H5870-H5871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LESSON FOR TODAY: DRILL OFFSHORE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, they say it's not safe to drill offshore 
because, they say, oil rigs are polluters of crude oil. So the lesson 
for today is: Where does the oil pollution from off our coasts come 
from?
  Let's keep it simple. This is a chart. This is a chart that shows oil 
pollution from off our coasts. It comes from the National Academy of 
Sciences. It gives four sources.
  As shown by the blue line, the number 1 polluter of crude oil off our 
coasts comes from Mother Nature. Sixty-three percent of the crude that 
has polluted our coasts and our gulfs comes from Mother Nature. It 
seeps from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to the surface, 63 percent.
  The number 2 polluter, as shown by the green line, is recreational 
boating. Thirty-two percent of the pollution of crude oil comes from 
boating.
  The number 3 source, shown by the yellow line, appropriately so, is 
from tankers from overseas, 3 percent. It's those tankers, for example, 
that come from Saudi Arabia that are polluting our oceans by leaking 
crude oil, but it's only 3 percent.
  As shown by the red line, the little bitty red line, 2 percent of 
offshore drilling rigs cause 2 percent of that oil pollution.
  Let's do it again, Madam Speaker, to make sure it takes.
  As shown by the blue line, the number 1 polluter of our oceans and 
off our coasts is Mother Nature. Sixty-three percent of that pollution 
seeps from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to our shores. Mother 
Nature is the number 1 villain.
  The number 2 culprit, as shown by the green line, is recreational 
boating. It causes 32 percent of that oil pollution off our shores.
  The number 3 culprit, as shown by the appropriate yellow line, are 
rigs or, rather, tankers from other nations such as Saudi Arabia, 
causing 3 percent of the pollution.
  Lastly, the number 4 culprit of 2 percent, as shown by the little 
bitty red line, are those nasty offshore drilling rigs.
  So, Madam Speaker, maybe it's time we look at the facts and realize 
that

[[Page H5871]]

the lesson for today is we should not be punishing America by refusing 
to drill offshore. Maybe we should drill offshore because we can do so 
safely and because it has been proven in the past that we can drill 
safely. There is only a small portion off the U.S. coasts where leasing 
is allowed, but we know there is crude oil off the east coast, off the 
sacred west coast and even in other areas of the Gulf of Mexico, so 
maybe we should drill there as one solution to the problem of high 
gasoline prices. We need more supply, and this is one way to do it.
  And that's just the way it is.

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