[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 19655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               OIL AND GAS DRILLING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I would like to turn my attention to one 
issue we have to resolve before we leave on this Friday or Saturday.
  The Senators from Mississippi and Texas and Alabama and Louisiana and 
the Senators from Florida have stepped forward to come up with a plan 
that will do more than just talk about the recovery of the gulf coast 
but will actually put money behind that promise. We will put real money 
behind that promise.
  We have been working for months and months through an extremely 
difficult negotiation and have come up with a way to open more drilling 
in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling for oil and drilling for gas--
particularly natural gas--as our region struggles to come back, to stay 
competitive as industries large and small struggle to come back. The 
price of natural gas remains too high. One way to drive it down is to 
open more gas reserves in this Nation, to open the supply.
  In the last Energy bill we passed, there were any number of ideas and 
new initiatives for energy conservation. But what we didn't do in the 
last Energy bill--please hear me--was open new production. We spent the 
whole time debating ANWR as if it were the only place in America we 
could drill. We have debated it for 40 years, and maybe we will 
continue to debate it, but it ended in a no advance-no retreat status--
basically a draw--in the last Energy bill because all the energy was 
spent in a discussion of ANWR, which is a very important subject, but 
it is not the only place that has oil and has gas. We have a lot of it 
in the gulf. We are willing to drill.
  This is the extraordinary find just off the coast of Louisiana--
actually an outside distance of over 200 miles--most extraordinarily, 
28,000 feet deep, 20,000 feet of water and 8,000 feet below the floor. 
This well in this small, little square will double the size of the 
reserves in the entire Gulf of Mexico. There is plenty of oil and gas 
in the gulf, and the great news is that Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
and Alabama will do the drilling. We will be host for the industry. We 
respect the rights of other States that might choose other ways. Your 
State, Mr. President, has chosen a different way, other States look at 
the Atlantic coast and have chosen a different way, and Florida has 
chosen a different way. That debate is for another day.
  Right now, the American people need this leadership team to act, to 
open 9 million new acres of land in the Gulf of Mexico. This has been 
agreed to by Democrats, by Republicans, by Florida, by Alabama, by 
Mississippi, by Louisiana, and by Texas, by all the Governors, starting 
with Governor Bush, to Governor Perry, to Governor Blanco, to Governor 
Riley, to Governor Barbour. You would think we could get this done 
before we leave.
  This is a jack well, one little square. This is lease sale 181 and 
181 south, which Pete Domenici has led in an extraordinary bipartisan 
effort with 72 votes on the floor to open this drilling. Many want to 
say it is not enough. It looks pretty big to me. We don't even know the 
oil and gas that is there because we haven't even tested it. Trust me, 
there is a lot of oil and gas. Check the industry, check the Web site 
about what must be there. And there is no fight about it. The only 
fight is we can't seem to get this bill passed when most everybody has 
agreed to it. Some people are holding out to drill off the coast of 
California or off the coast of New Hampshire or off the coast of New 
Jersey, which is not going to happen in the next week. It may not 
happen in the next year or two. But this can happen now. We need to 
make this happen now. The industry needs the oil and gas.
  Why do I keep saying it is America's energy coast? Because this is 
the pipeline. I didn't make this up. This comes off of the Web site. It 
is from the Annual Florida Natural Gas Supplemental Gas Supply and 
Disposition from the Energy Administration. This is not from Mary 
Landrieu's office; this is from the Energy Administration. This is 
where the natural gas is. This is where it comes from. The 
infrastructure is here, and our country desperately needs it.
  Here is another chart that shows it in a more colorful fashion. This 
is the pipeline coverage. You can see the contributions of Texas, 
Louisiana, and Mississippi. This is the Superdome. It sits right here. 
There is Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Right here is the heart of 
America's energy coast. We are proud of it.
  There is not a whole lot of drilling going on up here, not a whole 
lot up here in the northwest, but the infrastructure is here.
  We need to open up lease sale 181. The steady stream of revenue to 
restore this coast and to build these levees--$8 billion--is produced 
off of this coast every year, and getting a portion of these revenues 
back to these States, opening additional reserves, and sharing these 
revenues to build this coast and to restore this coast is something we 
can get done.
  In the spirit of the leadership and the spirit of the great victory 
last night, let this team in Washington get this victory for the 
country before we leave.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah is recognized.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I certainly enjoyed the remarks of my 
friend from Louisiana

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