Vigilance has got to be the subtle word.

This is just the end of the beginning.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further Members wishing to speak on this issue, and I am prepared to yield back my time. I look forward to working with my colleague on the Ways and Means Committee in this effort to hopefully change this regime's…

This culture down here is very much in peril.

People have said, let them drill and just don't penetrate the reservoir until you know.

But the other thing is, why doesn't the United States government make them?

The federal government is about to kill us. It's just about to kill us with their levees and with their regulatory --

Look, people here have been so let down. The levees, the federal government let us down. The MMS colossally let everybody down.

I mean, you know, they are sitting there with potential criminal charges. And God knows what their civil fines are or anything else. And why are we fooling with these people? We have been invaded by them.

The reason that they don't let you out there is one word and it's not plastic. It's lawyers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to have my name removed as cosponsor from the bill H.R. 5585. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Louisiana? There was no objection. ____________________

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my ranking member's remarks here. The gentleman from New Jersey made a very compelling emotional argument. We all agree that we have to do something. But the American people want us to pay for this. They have been…

But -- but -- but they can't be, because they have an obligation to their shareholders, just like they can't be transparent about the flow.

This is a catastrophe of the first magnitude.

I think -- I'm afraid if their shareholders -- I don't -- I think this thing -- like I said, my own view -- and I hope I'm wrong -- but has been from the get-go, this is a catastrophe of the first magnitude.

But they can't be, because they have an obligation to their shareholders, just like they can't be transparent about the flow.

Mr. President, I begin by complimenting the senior Senator from Massachusetts for a remarkable tribute to the late Senator Robert Byrd. It was beautifully delivered, beautifully written. It captured the spirit of this wonderful Senator and…

Mr. President, I come to the floor this afternoon to speak on a couple of different subjects. Briefly I wish to say a few words about our extraordinary and great colleague who has left the Senate and left this world, but his spirit will be…