I want to go back to the broader issue of not just the formal moratorium in deepwater, but the de facto moratorium in shallow water and the threat of unreasonable regulation.

I am very disappointed that our witnesses don't include any representative of the Obama Administration.

Right. And just to be clear for the record, as of three weeks ago, the number of those new drilling permits in shallow since the Deepwater Horizon explosion was zero.

The issuance of a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling is an overreach, not necessary, and has been deemed arbitrary and capricious by the Federal courts.

the moratorium's spillover effect could mean 12,000 jobs and nearly three billion nationwide.

This ill-conceived and heavy-handed action by the Federal Government does not meet our environmental needs, our national security needs, and it most certainly does not meet our economic needs.

I ask the Administration to please lift the moratorium, not in October or November or September, but today.

This moratorium is not about big oil. It is rather about the Calais, the Sheramies, Depueys, the Roberts, the Boudreauxes, and the Thibodauxes.

This blanket moratorium will not help us achieve or advance that goal.

This Administration's decision to halt drilling activity did more than threaten the livelihoods of rig workers and oil service crews.

if the moratorium lasts longer, some 25,000 jobs could be in jeopardy.

The decision to stop virtually all new energy exploration in the Gulf was uninformed, in my view, and it borders on reckless.

Our Federal Government has a responsibility, particularly in these difficult times, to make sure that these paychecks do not turn into pink slips.

We cannot close down the Gulf offshore oil and gas sector without devastating economic impacts to our region, increased environmental risk to our ocean, and weakening our national security.

I believe the action to impose this moratorium has actually increased environmental risk to our oceans and coastal wetlands.

I am going to put the full weight of this committee behind the lifting of this moratorium as soon as possible.

Oil and gas is the lifeblood of our economy, from top to bottom, and that blood has stopped pumping due to nothing more than political posturing.

But, look, politically, I would -- I would be just -- I would be happy, as would most Democrats, if the thing would be -- just go away.