[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 118 (Thursday, July 17, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   OFFSHORE EXPLORATION VERSUS LEASES

  (Mr. SMITH of Nebraska asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I'm glad that 
President Bush turned up the heat on Congress when he lifted an 
executive order barring offshore energy exploration off almost 90 
percent of U.S. coastlines.
  Mr. Speaker, I have to say that raising the decibel level of the 
debate in this Chamber does not solve the problem. A good, 
comprehensive, broad-based energy supply is what solves the problem. 
Instead of acting to help consumers with high gas prices, Congress 
still has not taken up legislation which will actually help fight 
rising gas prices even as the price at the pump rockets past $4.11 a 
gallon. Instead, we hear the other side of the aisle about use-it-or-
lose-it current policy, that oil companies are sitting on 68 million 
acres, or maybe even more, of land which could be used for energy 
exploration.
  We need to ask ourselves the question then, Why would anyone in the 
private sector want to engage in even greater expenses then in 
acquiring more petroleum resources for the American people?
  But even a Democratic colleague of mine said, ``You can't produce on 
every acre or even every 100 acres. I think those numbers come from 
people who don't understand the business.''
  We can do better; we should do better, Mr. Speaker.

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