[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 25 (Monday, June 26, 1995)]
[Page 1089]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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.