Jeff Miller: “right now our country is facing an energy crisis. I believe that H.R. 4761 is a great first step to freeing our country…”

“right now our country is facing an energy crisis. I believe that H.R. 4761 is a great first step to freeing our country from the powerful grips of foreign energy reliance. This bill also makes a powerful statement about the value we place on our military by preventing drilling east of the Military Mission Line, thus providing our military with the tools and resources it needs for defense training. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld has said, areas east of the military mission line are ``specially critical to DoD due to the number and diversity of military testing and training activities conducted there now, and those planned for the future.'' I want to thank Chairman Pombo and Congressman Young of Florida for their strong support of this legislation and the military training area that this bill will protect. Continuing to provide adequate training facilities for our military shows not only support for our troops but also sends a message to our enemies that we are serious about winning this war and that our priorities are where they should be.”