[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 7199]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE PUMP

  (Mr. MORAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago, lax regulation and reckless 
pursuit of higher oil company profits resulted in 11 deaths, 200 
million gallons of oil dumped into our gulf waters, tens of thousands 
of marine and aquatic life lost, and a damaged fishing and tourism 
industry. A panel of experts showed us how we can learn from past 
mistakes and implement regulations to ensure that this disaster doesn't 
happen again. Yet over the last 2 weeks the Republican majority has 
passed legislation to create an even more lax regulatory environment 
than existed before the BP oil spill disaster.
  Opening our shores to drilling and returning to pre-BP oil spill 
regulations won't reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and it won't 
reduce the price of gas at the pump. The United States holds less than 
2 percent of the world's oil reserves while we consume more than 22 
percent. Even if all restricted areas in the U.S. could somehow be 
brought into production at this moment, the oil they would yield under 
the best scenario is about a million barrels of oil a day--5 percent of 
our daily consumption.
  Those bills shouldn't get any further than the House. The Senate 
should reject them. The American people should better understand the 
real cost of giving the oil companies everything they want.

                          ____________________