[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      OFFSHORE ENERGY AND JOBS ACT

  (Mr. GIBBS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. GIBBS. Mr. Speaker, as of today, 85 percent of the offshore areas 
have been blocked from offshore drilling by the Obama administration. 
The energy legislation on the floor this week makes significant strides 
towards increasing our offshore production.
  Additional energy production contributes to lowering fuel prices at a 
time when gas prices are over 100 percent higher than when President 
Obama took office.
  H.R. 2231, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act, creates 1.2 million 
American jobs over the long term by removing Federal barriers to 
offshore energy production. According to the CBO, the legislation would 
also generate $1.5 billion in new Federal revenues over the 10-year 
period, which helps pay down our outrageous national debt.
  This important legislation grows the economy and creates American 
jobs at a time of high unemployment and stagnant economic growth. 
Furthermore, it puts us on a path to energy independence and security 
by decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of energy.
  We need to stand together to support this legislation that addresses 
our soaring gas prices and our sinking economy.

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