[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 74 (Monday, May 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2654-S2655]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GULF OF MEXICO OIL DRILLING MORATORIUM

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, there has been a longstanding question of 
whether there would be drilling for oil in the eastern Gulf of Mexico 
off of the State of Florida.
  This had been settled in law 10 years ago. Then, my colleague Senator 
Mel Martinez and I passed a portion of legislation called GOMESA. That 
portion of the legislation put the drilling off of Florida in the 
eastern Gulf--everything east of a north-south line called the Military 
Mission Line, which is a line running south of approximately Fort 
Walton Beach--everything east of that is off limits in law to any kind 
of oil drilling activity, along with the remainder of the coast of 
Florida; 125 miles from the coast going all the way over to Pensacola 
and to the Perdido River, which is the Alabama-Florida line.
  The reasons for this are many, but not the least of which is called 
the Military Mission Line. That area of the Gulf off of Florida is the 
largest testing and training area for the United States military in the 
world. Compared to other testing ranges, such as the Nevada Test Site--
it dwarfs that site. As we can see, from north to south, we have ranges 
as far as 300 miles from east to west. For example, off of Naples, FL, 
all the way west to the Military Mission Line is approximately 250 
miles. That has been needed by our U.S. military because of the testing 
and training.
  It has been doubted over the years as the relentless pursuit of oil 
drilling by the oil industry has tried to erode into that, and that is 
why, in a bipartisan way, Senator Martinez and I put in law for the 
period of years through 2022, from when we passed this back in 2006, it 
off limits.
  The question is, What is coming afterward? Well, of course if it is 
up to the Department of Defense, there will be no oil drilling 
activity. That is what I wanted to bring to the attention of the Senate 
today.
  Two previous Secretaries of Defense in Republican administrations, 
including Secretary Rumsfeld, have written letters to state the policy 
that any oil-related activity in that testing and training range would 
be incompatible with the mission of the testing and training of the 
U.S. military.
  The reason I am bringing this to the attention of the Senate today is 
that a letter signed by the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for 
Personnel and Readiness has just come into my possession. A gentleman 
named Mr. A.M. Kurta writes:


[[Page S2655]]


  

       I have been asked to respond to your letter--

  This is to Congressman Matt Gaetz--

     on behalf of the Secretary of Defense.

  This is regarding the maintaining of the moratorium on oil and gas 
activities in the Gulf of Mexico beyond the year 2022. The letter 
states:

       The Department of Defense (DoD) cannot overstate the vital 
     importance of maintaining this moratorium.

  Why is that? The letter goes on to explain not only the necessity of 
which so many of our bases in the area--Tyndall Air Force Base in 
Panama City, all the testing and training of the F-22, the training of 
our pilots there; Eglin Air Force Base, the testing and the training of 
the pilots for the F-35. Remember, the F-35 is being sold to many 
foreign nations, the testing and training of those pilots, as well, but 
now, with new technologies--I quote from the letter:

       Emerging technologies such as hypersonics, autonomous 
     systems, and advanced sub-surface systems will require 
     enlarged testing and training footprints, and increased DoD 
     reliance on the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act's 
     moratorium beyond 2022. The moratorium is essential for 
     developing and sustaining our nation's future combat 
     capabilities.

  So I think it is pretty clear.
  There is one other issue. This all follows the fact that this Senator 
filed a bill last January to extend this moratorium. I will point out 
that just recently a bipartisan delegation from Florida--a majority of 
the Members of the Florida delegation, bipartisan--signed a letter to 
the Department of the Interior and the Department of Defense requesting 
the extension of this moratorium in law past the year 2022. The 
response from the Department of Defense has come today.
  There is one further issue, and that is, if it is off limits to oil 
drilling in law, is there any question that it ought to be off limits 
to seismic testing? To the author of the original legislation 10 years 
ago, that should be clear, but--therefore we ought to clarify it. The 
request of the Department of Defense is:

       [A] question arose concerning whether Congress intended the 
     moratorium to prohibit even geological and geophysical survey 
     activities in the eastern Gulf. We would welcome 
     clarification from Congress concerning this matter.

  So it will be this Senator's intent, joining in a bipartisan way with 
colleagues from Florida, to get that clarification in extending the 
moratorium.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                   Washington, DC, April 26, 2017.
     Hon. Matt Gaetz,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Gaetz: Thank you for your letter dated 
     March 24, 2017, regarding maintaining the moratorium on oil 
     and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico beyond 2022. Since 
     military readiness falls under my purview, I have been asked 
     to respond to your letter on behalf of the Secretary of 
     Defense. The Department of Defense (DoD) cannot overstate the 
     vital importance of maintaining this moratorium.
       National security and energy security are inextricably 
     linked and the DoD fully supports the development of our 
     nation's domestic energy resources in a manner that is 
     compatible with military testing, training, and operations. 
     As mentioned in your letter, the complex of eastern Gulf of 
     Mexico operating areas and warning areas provides critical 
     opportunities for advanced weapons testing and joint training 
     exercises. The moratorium on oil and gas ``leasing, pre-
     leasing, and other related activities'' ensures that these 
     vital military readiness activities may be conducted without 
     interference and is critical to their continuation. Emerging 
     technologies such as hypersonics, autonomous systems, and 
     advanced sub-surface systems will require enlarged testing 
     and training footprints, and increased DoD reliance on the 
     Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act's moratorium beyond 2022. 
     The moratorium is essential for developing and sustaining our 
     nation's future combat capabilities.
       Since signing the 1983 ``Memorandum of Agreement Between 
     the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior 
     on Mutual Concerns on the Outer Continental Shelf,'' the two 
     departments have worked cooperatively to ensure offshore 
     resource development is compatible with military readiness 
     activities. During recent discussions between the DoD and the 
     Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy 
     Management, a question arose concerning whether Congress 
     intended the moratorium to prohibit even geological and 
     geophysical survey activities in the eastern Gulf. We would 
     welcome clarification from Congress concerning this matter.
       On behalf of the Secretary, I appreciate your interest in 
     sustaining our testing and training activities in the eastern 
     Gulf of Mexico.
           Sincerely,
     A.M. Kurta,
       Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for 
     Personnel and Readiness.

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, in conclusion, we can't have oil drilling, 
not only for our national security and the testing and training of our 
most sophisticated weapons systems in the Gulf off of Florida, but also 
we couldn't stand it if we had another oil spill that would do to us 
what the last one did. It was a spill way far west off of Louisiana, 
but it drifted to the east and blackened the sugary white sands of 
Pensacola Beach and Destin Beach, and there were tar balls as far east 
as Panama City Beach. Because of that, we lost an entire season of our 
guests, our tourists. They did not come to the Gulf Coast of Florida, 
not just in the Florida panhandle but all the way south down the Gulf 
to Naples and to Marco Island--a $60 billion per year tourism industry 
for Florida's economy. We can't suffer that kind of shock again.
  So whether it be the degradation of the environment, the messing up 
of the training and testing of our U.S. military and their largest 
testing and training range, or the devastating economic loss to Florida 
of its tourism industry--for all those reasons, we need to pass this 
legislation. It will be coming forth in a bipartisan fashion.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________