Bill Nelson: “I want to speak while we are in this pause on the Defense bill about a looming problem that the entire eastern seaboard…”

“I want to speak while we are in this pause on the Defense bill about a looming problem that the entire eastern seaboard of the United States has; that is, the Spanish drilling company Repsol is bringing a rig in that has been constructed over in Asia, and sometime early next year they are going to drill in deep water off the north coast of Cuba. The Spanish drilling company is a very competent company. As a matter of fact, they adhere to safety standards that are required by the United States because they drill in the Gulf of Mexico in American waters. So if there is a responsible party in drilling, then we have one. However, there are other leases the Cuban Government is granting to other countries for drilling that may not adhere to the safe standards that are set that Repsol will agree to abide by, the same safety standards that they use drilling in American waters and have agreed in principle that they will follow a plan of action with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the case that there should be a spill. All of that is well and good, but there are other companies coming down the line drilling in other leases that may not adhere to their standards.…”