Political Quotes

“Mr. President, tourists flock every year to enjoy the inviting waters of the South Florida--sunbathing on Miami Beach, boating in Biscayne Bay National Park, snorkeling on treasured coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. And you might take a souvenir picture at the Southernmost Point in Key West. Standing there, you are closer to Cuba--90 miles away--than you are to Miami, which is 160 miles away. In 1977, the U.S. negotiated a Maritime Boundary with Cuba for fisheries and other continental shelf activities, like oil exploration, roughly halfway between our nations--or 45 miles from the Southernmost Point in Key West. Since 2005, several oil companies have leased blocks in Cuban waters south of that line to drill for oil. Can you imagine the damage to our environment and our economy if oil was to coat two national parks, a national marine sanctuary, a national wildlife refuge, iconic coral reefs, world-class fisheries, and beloved beaches? It would be catastrophic. In fact, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was created specifically to protect against threats like an oil spill. In 2012, four companies tried and failed to find oil. But recently, an Angolan company has ramped up plans to drill in late 2016. We are simply not prepared to protect U.S. interests from an oil spill off Cuba.…”