Bart Stupak: “I rise to thank Chairwoman Slaughter and Chairman Rahall for accepting my amendment reaffirming the permanent ban on oil…”

“I rise to thank Chairwoman Slaughter and Chairman Rahall for accepting my amendment reaffirming the permanent ban on oil and gas drilling in and under the Great Lakes. I also want to thank Chairman Miller for joining with me in adding protections from bad actors that pollute the environment, endanger worker safety and threaten the health and welfare of the public. This legislation prevents these bad corporate actors from being awarded Federal leases and drilling permits. Whether it's BP in the Gulf of Mexico or Enbridge pipeline in Michigan, we need to give Federal regulators the flexibility to prevent oil companies with poor safety and environmental records from accessing our natural resources in reckless disregard for safety and our environment. As chair of the Energy and Commerce Oversight Investigation Subcommittee, I have held four hearings on the Deepwater Horizon spill and uncovered serious problems of how BP cut corners to save money that led to the gulf oil spill. This legislation begins to correct these problems, and I urge my colleagues to vote for this legislation.”