[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8819-S8820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request
Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, I rise today to move for unanimous consent
on the American Shores Protection Act, and this would codify President
Trump's 2020 moratorium on drilling off Florida's Gulf of America and
Atlantic coasts.
Florida has worked with President Trump for years to keep these
operations off our pristine coast and not just for a sunny day to enjoy
the gulf but because our coasts are a vital component of our State's
economic success. In fact, Florida's beaches alone generate more than
$127.7 billion a year in tourism spending and support more than 2.1
million related jobs.
However, these great resources are vulnerable to risks posed by new
offshore drilling.
We all saw the devastating harm caused by the Deepwater Horizon
oilspill in 2010. That disaster wiped billions of dollars from
Florida's industries and caused horrific damage to our environment and
coastal communities. Places like Panama City Beach, Pensacola, and
Destin all saw dramatic drops in tourist revenues that summer,
following the catastrophe. Even places like Clearwater, St. Petersburg,
and Miami Beach suffered a decline in visitors after the oilspill.
Our coasts also play an important role in securing our Nation. The
Gulf Test Range, a big part of the Department of War's training to
ensure mission readiness, is supported by multiple military bases in
Florida's Panhandle. More than 50,000 jobs in the Panhandle depend
directly on operations at military facilities in this area. Eglin Air
Force Base, in Okaloosa County, alone employs 20,000 people and
provides the country with $11 billion in economic impact every year.
If there were new offshore drilling in the Gulf Test Range, these
activities that support national security would have to be reduced,
meaning job cuts in an area that depends heavily on military
activities.
As a fifth generation Floridian, preserving our State's natural
beauty is deeply important to me and all Floridians and the millions
that call the Sunshine State home, as well as those who come to visit
and vacation. It is my mission to protect our State's coastline, from
Pensacola Beach, where the Blue Angels fly, to Duval Street in Key
West; from the iconic South Beach in Miami to Fernandina in the very
tip of Northeast Florida, all for our next generation.
I appreciate my colleague's support as we work together to ensure oil
drilling stays off our beaches and we pass the American Shores
Protection Act.
And if I may defer to my fellow Senator from Florida, Senator Rick
Scott.
Mr. SCHMITT. The senior Senator from Florida.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I want to first thank my
colleague from Florida, Senator Moody. I am proud to work together with
her to protect Florida's shores, which is very, very, very important to
Floridians.
As Floridians, we know that our beaches and coastal waters are vital
to the State's economy, environment, tourism, and military community. I
have worked for years, both as Florida's Governor and U.S. Senator, to
keep oil drilling off our coast. We do not want oil drilling on our
coast.
In 2018, I was proud to work with President Trump, during his first
term, to extend the moratorium on oil drilling off Florida's coasts
through 2032, and I have fought to codify this action since I got to
the Senate.
Florida's shorelines are not only an iconic and pristine part of the
State's environment; they also generate jobs in the area and support
billions in tourism revenue.
Florida's beaches alone contribute more than $127 billion per year to
the State's economy, just in tourism spending. People come from all
over the world to enjoy our beaches. And 2.1 million jobs held by
Floridians are tourism-related jobs.
Our coasts are also a critical national security point for military
training with the Gulf Test Range. Anybody that has done testing, if
you have served along the Panhandle, you know how important the
military training is on the testing there for the Gulf Test Range. This
range is an essential part of the Department of War's military training
and is supported by several military communities along Florida's
Panhandle.
It is the largest multidomain military training complex in the
country, where our Armed Forces can conduct advanced military testing,
training, and evaluation of air and weapons systems. There is no place
in the world like being able to test and train off the coast of
Florida.
The administration is right. We need to unleash America's energy,
including American oil, but we can do that without sacrificing
America's most important military training ground or hurting Florida's
economy or shoreline.
I recently wrote a letter that was signed by the entire bipartisan
Florida delegation--it is led by Senator Moody and me--urging President
Trump to continue his commitment to keeping Florida's coast off the
table for oil drilling and uphold his moratorium.
Along with Senator Moody, I will always fight to keep oil drilling
off of Florida's coast to support our economy, our environment, and our
Nation's military readiness.
I look forward to continuing to work closely with the President,
Senator Moody, and all our colleagues on this important issue.
I yield back to my colleague from Florida, Senator Moody.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Florida.
Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, as if in legislative session and
notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further
consideration of S. 3082 and the Senate proceed to its immediate
consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time
and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and
laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Reserving the right to object, this legislation has not been
through regular order. It has not received a legislative hearing, and
it hasn't been marked up. And it hasn't been reported by the committee
of jurisdiction. As a result, there has been no opportunity, with all
of those stops along the legislative pathway having been skipped--there
has been no opportunity--for Members of this body, for members of the
Trump administration, for the two principal involved Agencies within
the U.S. Department of the Interior, known as BOEM and BSEE, to provide
their feedback or offer testimony on the implications of this
legislation.
Now, look, the Senate's committee process exists, and it exists for a
reason. It exists for exactly these sets of reasons. While it might
have slightly different implications depending on the committee
involved and depending on the type of legislation, there are reasons
why these things are there, and almost regardless of which committee is
affected, you can normally benefit from this. And, in fact, it is
normally quite hazardous to just bypass all of this, because that is
how we legislate, without making sure that we have gone through all the
necessary steps.
This process that has evolved over the last, roughly, two and a half
centuries allows legislation to be examined in a transparent and a
deliberative
[[Page S8820]]
way, with input from affected Agencies, from industries, from the
President of the United States and members of his administration, and
Senators on both sides of the aisle, including but not limited to the
Senators of the States who might be behind the legislation in question.
Before legislation is advanced to the floor, it should be vetted
through that process so that the Senate can fully understand and
appreciate its scope, its effect, its legal posture, and whatever
unintended or intended consequences the legislation might have.
I have made it clear, from the beginning, that I am willing to work
with the Senator from Florida. In fact, I have offered to place it on
the agenda for the next subcommittee hearing within the Energy
Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That would
provide the Trump administration with the opportunity to weigh in with
its views and allow us to hear analysis from BOEM and BSEE and any
other Agencies that are affected--consistent with how the committee has
considered other legislation within its jurisdiction this year, and
consistent with the way it has always done it in the 15 years I have
been a U.S. Senator.
As chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I have
consistently stated that bills within the committee's jurisdiction
should proceed through regular order. That process positions bills for
successful consideration on the floor, consideration by the House, and,
ultimately, enactment into law.
Skipping that process allows a bill to jump ahead of others that have
followed the rules and respected the committee system.
So my objection today is not based on the merits of the underlying
policy. It is based on the process. But the process is important to
getting the policy right. That is why we don't skip it. That is why, in
the absence of a compelling, overwhelming, urgent reason, we don't just
ignore it, and I can't and won't ignore it here.
The Senate should not abandon its regular order by advancing
legislation that has not been considered by the committee of
jurisdiction.
I look forward to working with my friend and colleague the
distinguished Senator from Florida to consider her bill in the Energy
and Natural Resources Committee in a transparent matter.
Until that occurs, I must object and object now.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
The Senator from Florida.
Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for taking the time
to come down here today. I will note that he spent a lot of time
talking about the long bureaucratic process; that this must go through
every single step; and that we must get the policy right and going
through the things that might take years, as we have seen happen in the
Senate. It is what the American people are tired of, and I did not come
here as the newest U.S. Senator to do business as usual. In fact, do
you see where my desk is? It is on the very last row, almost to the
edge of the Senate, because I am one of the newest Senators. We need to
do things different. We need to get things done.
In respect to the pristine beaches of Florida, we have to act with a
sense of urgency. As far as getting policy right, this simply codifies
President Trump's 2020 moratorium on drilling off Florida's Gulf of
America and Atlantic coasts. This policy has been negotiated and talked
about, and it is already in a moratorium. This would simply codify
that.
I so appreciate my colleague offering to set this on the agenda, and
I appreciate that. I hope my other Senate colleagues recognize the
urgency to get this done. I can't think of anything more top of mind
for Floridians right now.
I am proud to be here, along with my colleague Senator Scott, to
fight for Floridians and fight for Florida's livelihood, our pristine
natural resources.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I respect and deeply appreciate my friend and
colleague the distinguished Senator from Florida. And I respect and
admire her great devotion to protecting her State, its pristine
beaches, and the many qualities that it enjoys. People from all over
the United States of America and all over the world love going to
Florida. No one wants to take that away.
I, nonetheless, take umbrage--great umbrage in fact--to a couple of
characterizations to which I must now respond. First, as to what she
characterizes as the ``long bureaucratic process,'' this process is
itself quite short, especially in comparison to an actual bureaucratic
process, which it is not. Make no mistake, this is not a bureau; this
is not bureaucratic process; this is a legislative process. It is a
legislative process that has endured for hundreds of years in this
country, and it may not be perfect, but it is the best one we have got.
It existed for many hundreds of years before that in our mother
country, before we became our own country. There are reasons why these
things develop. To call it a long bureaucratic process is neither fair
nor accurate, and it misapprehends the nature of the legislative task,
including the legislative task before us at this very moment.
Now, with regard to the suggestion that by not passing this today--
not passing it after leapfrogging over about 10 legislative steps that
are essential to that process--we are somehow threatening Florida's
pristine beaches and waters, this is simply not true. That couldn't be
more untrue.
Let's remember what happened in 2020. President Trump issued a
moratorium. That moratorium stays in place until 2032. Absent some
other action taken pursuant to that, the status quo is to protect them.
What she is trying to do is to protect against President Trump doing
anything consistent with his authority, consistent with that 2020
order. She is trying to tie his hands to prevent him from even figuring
out what is there, to figure out whether there is a cost-benefit
analysis on any of that.
Now, sure, the Senate can consider that from time to time. And
perhaps after the legislative process--not the bureaucratic process.
That is something different. That doesn't exist here. Nor is this
simply a delay for the sake of delay. I pride myself in running the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee and bringing forth these
hearings as expeditiously as possible, and I have offered to put it on
the next appropriate subcommittee hearing.
Now, if a mere delay of a few weeks or a few months, where it takes
that time, isn't acceptable, I would like to know why. We have yet to
hear a single reason, a single argument as to the parade of horribles
of what could happen if we don't, as she would do here, tie President
Trump's hands and bind further legislatively beyond what he has already
bound himself to through his own 2020 Executive order.
So this is in place. It will remain in place. And there has yet to be
a single reason articulated as to why we should treat this as an
emergency. There is nobody going down there to drill right now. We
still have got the Agencies that are looking at it. The least we can do
in consideration of President Trump, his administration, and the
affected Agencies, including those that I have mentioned earlier
today--most particularly BOEM--is to hear them out first. In the
absence of a compelling reason to leapfrog all of that, I must and will
continue to object.
Mrs. MOODY. Thank you. I appreciate my colleague's willingness to
work in the next week or few months. Thank you so much.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Moreno). The Senator from Oklahoma.