[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    LET GULF COAST GET BACK TO WORK

  (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASSIDY. ``The gulf oil spill has been terrible for the Gulf 
Coast. But as bad as it has been, the Federal Government's moratorium 
on deepwater drilling can be worse.''
  Mr. Speaker, 18 months ago I had the honor to speak these words while 
offering a motion to immediately end President Obama's moratorium on 
deepwater drilling.
  Although the moratorium has officially ended, there is still a two-
thirds cut in new permitting and an overall slowdown in production that 
has caused nearly one-half of the Gulf Coast's oil and gas-focused 
businesses to reduce wages or lay off workers.
  These aren't the major oil and gas companies. These are small 
businesses that cannot move overseas. Forty-one percent are not turning 
a profit. Seventy percent have had to draw from their savings accounts 
to meet operating expenses. The gulf oil spill is a tragedy, but for 
workers, the moratorium has made it worse.
  For the sake of job creation, affordable domestic energy, and a 
stronger economy for all Americans, I call on the President to reverse 
these policies and let the Gulf Coast get back to work.

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