Steven Holt: “I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the minority member of highest rank on our…”

“I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the minority member of highest rank on our committee, the Natural Resources Committee. Mr. DeFAZIO. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, I was listening with interest to some of the statements made earlier in the debate about the administration deliberately restraining the oil and gas industry in this country. Actually, the facts belie those statements. The Federal lands oil production is growing faster than that on private lands--plus 30, plus 35. Obviously, they start with a larger base, but still it is growing faster. So that hardly shows any deliberate attempts by the Obama administration to limit this production. And, again, Republicans talk about that the President had not leased an adequate amount of land. But if you look, these little photos are of former President George Bush, and when the lines start to go up, these are from the current President, Barack Obama, and onshore oil production on Federal lands is up 35 percent. So let's deal with what the real intent here is. The Obama administration has an all-of-the-above strategy. They are trying to produce these resources responsibly. The other side of the aisle would have us believe that environmental laws and other restrictions and an intentional campaign by the Obama administration are making us vulnerable to foreign influences. Actually, our imports were at the lowest level in recent history in the last year.…”