I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, families and businesses across the country are struggling with skyrocketing gasoline prices that in many places have already passed $4 per gallon. Everyday activities, such as…

I would like to inquire of the Chair how much time is remaining for both sides. The CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado has 18 minutes remaining, and the gentleman from New Jersey has 16 minutes remaining.

Then I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock). Mr. McCLINTOCK. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, when I was listening to the gentlelady from California and her colleagues, I was…

I thank the gentleman and the others from the Natural Resources Committee on the Republican side who have spoken on this issue or are with the Energy and Commerce Committee and made great comments about how we do need to do what we can in…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Although well intended, this amendment is duplicative and would add delays to the permitting process and production of American-made energy. It is the responsibility of the Department of the…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do oppose this amendment. Although well intended, the Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act itself makes drilling already safer by requiring that the Secretary ensure that any proposed…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. I do oppose this amendment because it is duplicative and unnecessary. This amendment attempts to expand upon the language in the bill that already mandates that the Secretary conduct a safety…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. The legislation on the floor today is designed to put Americans in the gulf region back to work and to ensure that permits are processed in a timely fashion and that bureaucratic delays are not…

I want to apologize. I was confused as to whether the gentleman was asking a rhetorical question or really wanted to have a colloquy. By the time I figured that out, he had moved on to the remainder of his argument. I would have been happy…

I will conclude by saying that what this bill wants to accomplish is that the administration must reach a decision on whether a permit should be issued. This amendment proposes to remove the final deadline that the administration would…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. I will do my best to be brief. The purpose of H.R. 1229 is to get residents of the gulf back to work in producing offshore energy. It is not only good for them; it is good for the entire country…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chairman, the intent of H.R. 1229 is to put Americans in the gulf back to work and to ensure a steady domestic supply of oil for our citizens and our consumers, thereby lessening our…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. In order to ensure that there is a circuit court that is familiar with the legal issues surrounding civil actions involving gulf energy production, it is important that venue be restricted to the…

If the gentleman wanted to make sure that the judges of Alabama and Florida were included, then maybe the amendment should have been written that way, and I think we would have a strong point of debate and that would be a legitimate item…

Reclaiming my time, I would say that we would have a more legitimate issue to debate. We could go into that. But it's too late, the amendment doesn't say that. And so that's not an option in front of us.

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let's stand back and look for a moment at the big picture. This administration has been held in contempt of court for slow-walking permits and is currently trying to appeal a Federal judge's…

I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Equal Access to Justice Act provisions in this bill are necessary to avoid costly delays to domestic energy development based on the extreme anti-energy agenda of a few groups. The Equal…

I would just point out that it is skewing the statistics and not accurate to say that the U.S. only has 2 percent of the world's oil reserves. When you look at Btus, energy production, we have more energy available in this country than any…

I will close by saying that this amendment, though well intended, is duplicative; and I think that has been admitted by the other side and therefore is unnecessary. I would urge a ``no'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time. The…

I have no other speakers, so at this point I am going to wait and close as soon as the gentlelady is done. I reserve the balance of my time.

I would close by saying that the experts that we should rely on are those that are in the Department of the Interior, Director Michael Bromwich with BOEMRE and all the way down, who have been working on this for the last year. They have…

I would point out that there is a public comment period that is available right now, and that is a proper and appropriate forum for an outside group to make the kind of standards- related comments that would be possibly helpful. But when…

I would like to address the issue of safety that has been raised a couple of times here. I quoted from the bill text earlier to show that there, indeed, are safety requirements that have been put into the bill as part of H.R. 1229: The…

I would like to inquire how much time is remaining to our side and if any remains on the other side. The CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado has 15 minutes remaining. The time of the gentleman from New Jersey has expired.

I would like to point out that anyone who reads the bill will see on the bottom of page 1 and the top of page 2, ``Safety review required. The Secretary shall not issue a permit under paragraph one without ensuring that the proposed…