[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 91 (Thursday, June 17, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H4602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            JOSH CONFERENCE

  (Mr. BOYD asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOYD. Mr. Speaker, we are 2 weeks into the hurricane season, and 
already the first tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic. If 
one of these storms were to strike the Gulf of Mexico, with millions of 
barrels of oil on top, the results would be disastrous to the 
communities along the gulf.
  To make sure our region is prepared to deal with the effects that a 
hurricane or a tropical storm could have, this past Monday I held a 
joint oil spill-hurricane planning conference in Bay County, Florida. 
The conference brought together representatives from Federal and State 
emergency response agencies, and it brought together military leaders 
and key local stakeholders to discuss the hazards associated with a 
hurricane's impact on the oil spill and to discuss the threats posed to 
our area by having oil propelled inland.
  Working together, we identified several planning and action items 
that need to be taken to better brace for the effects that a storm 
would have on our communities now that there is oil in the Gulf of 
Mexico. I plan to deliver these action items to the President and to 
urge him to incorporate these recommendations into a Federal hurricane 
preparedness and response plan so that our communities and people can 
be better protected.
  North Florida is already feeling the significant economic and 
environmental distress from the BP oil spill. It is our responsibility 
to take steps to safeguard our region.

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