[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GULF OIL SPILL

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, nearly 1 month after the Deepwater Horizon 
oil spill began on April 20, oil continues to flow from the well, 
poisoning and destroying our water environment. The rig activities were 
considered to be a low-risk drilling exploration. Such a classification 
sends chills up my spine, given the countless riskier drilling ventures 
occurring along the coasts of our great Nation.
  While millions of Americans watch the news and see the destruction of 
the gulf coast, the environment, and the economy of that area, I think 
of the thoughtless, baseless, cavalier Republican energy chant, ``Drill 
Baby Drill.'' It echoes in the ears of the American public and anybody 
who cares about the gulf coast of the United States. ``Drill Baby 
Drill'' was a simplistic response.
  We use 25.9 percent of the world's oil. We have 2.2 percent of the 
world's energy reserves. You don't have to be a math scholar or a Nobel 
Prize winner to know that won't work. You need to find alternative 
forms of energy. Use America's great research and brainpower. Harness 
solar. Harness the wind. Find new ways to help us with our problems 
with energy and not depend on fossil fuels, not ruin our environment, 
and not risk the flora and the fauna.
  Mr. Speaker, we have to find a new direction to be like America has 
been in the past: innovative and creative.

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