    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [June 20, 1995]
    [Pages 910-911]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on House Action To Lift the Moratorium on Oil and Gas Drilling
    on the Outer Continental Shelf
    June 20, 1995

        Today's vote by a House subcommittee to lift the moratorium on oil
    and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf would overturn a long-
    time bipartisan consensus on the need to protect

    [[Page 911]]

    the environment and economies of California, Florida, the Pacific
    Northwest, Alaska, and other coastal States.
        This action is a mistake, and I will have no part of it. I will not
    allow oil and gas drilling off our Nation's most sensitive coastlines on
    my watch. America's coastlines are simply too important to our economy
    and our way of life.
        This is yet another example of the zealous efforts of the Republican
    Congress to roll back environmental laws. Those laws serve the American
    people well, and I will fight to maintain them.