Lynn C. Woolsey: “I always tell people that I am from the most beautiful district in the country, Marin and Sonoma counties, California.…”

“I always tell people that I am from the most beautiful district in the country, Marin and Sonoma counties, California. We certainly have some of the most beautiful, pristine, and untouched coastline I have ever seen. That's why when I think of supporting an omnibus package today that includes offshore drilling within an 8.3 million-acre plot of the Gulf Coast, I can't help but think of what we'd be throwing away just for a 30-day supply of oil and gas. In fact, the only way the current leadership can attempt to get this 25-year moratorium on offshore drilling lifted is by tying it together with other desperately needed provisions in order to try and sweeten the deal. Research and development tax credits, college tuition deductions, royalty set-asides for the urgently needed wetlands and levee restoration projects in Louisiana, and a package to prevent physician payment cuts next year. These are all perfectly good, bipartisan bills that should have passed on a number of occasions this year. In fact, while I'm happy to see that physicians are being spared a 5 percent cut in payments--I'm nonetheless appalled to see that yet again, we still have yet to improve their reimbursement formula.”