[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.
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