[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H5873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BIG OIL DOES NOT NEED MORE LAND TO LEASE TO DRILL DOMESTICALLY--THEY 
                        SHOULD USE IT OR LOSE IT

  (Mr. HALL of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, American families and businesses 
are indeed reeling from record gas prices, the results of 7 years of 
missed opportunities and a 19th century energy policy this White House 
has allowed oil companies to write. President Bush's policy is only 
working for one group, the oil companies themselves.
  Rather than looking for new solutions, Washington Republicans say 
that Big Oil needs access to more land and more water so they can drill 
for more oil. What my friends across the aisle refuse to acknowledge is 
that 68 million acres of oil reserves on 10,000 separate leases are 
already acquired by the oil companies for development and are ready for 
the drill bit to go into the ground. Permitting has been finished, and 
the oil companies are holding off.
  Why are they holding off drilling on these 68 million acres of 
reserves? If they are really interested in drilling more at home, let's 
have them do that first before we give them access to the Alaskan 
Wildlife Refuge or our Atlantic and Pacific coasts. All they need to do 
is drill is on these 68 million acres they have already acquired. If 
they don't, I believe they should use it or lose it.

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