Alcee Hastings: “I am forever amazed, Mr. Speaker, at my colleagues' way of going about trying to assert something into measures that we…”

“I am forever amazed, Mr. Speaker, at my colleagues' way of going about trying to assert something into measures that we are dealing with, that, when all is said and done, don't have anything to do with the measure that we're dealing with. I agree with my colleague that we have a serious crisis in this country having to do with energy policy. But I also would urge him to understand that the President's energy policies have failed this country and that when he and his party were in the majority and had an opportunity to do all the things they are talking about, that many of them were not done. The fact is there are 68 million acres offshore and in the United States that are leased by oil companies. They are open to drilling and are actually under lease but are not developed. The fact is that if oil companies tapped the 68 million Federal acres of leased land, it could generate additional oil, six times what ANWR would produce at its peak. The fact is 80 percent of the oil available in the Outer Continental Shelf is in regions that are already open to leasing, but the oil companies haven't decided it's worth their time to drill there.”