On the recordMay 10, 2011
I thank my colleague for yielding time. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1229. This Republican proposal is very poor public policy. And as a Member who represents a community that is dependent on the gulf coast's economy, frankly, it is appalling for my Republican friends to press to eliminate safety standards on oil companies who want to continue to drill and come closer and closer to our beautiful beaches. Really, it is beyond the pale. And I have to ask, did my colleagues not learn anything from this disaster? In our economy on Florida's gulf coast, we depend on clean water and clean beaches, and when you bring up a bill like this, it feels like a direct challenge to our economic recovery. We have not recovered. The hotels and motels on the beach, the seafood industry, all the mom and pop shops who are dependent on the tourism industry, we are still struggling to come back. We want to adopt the recommendations of the oil spill commission that recommends stronger safety standards, something like that which was passed on a bipartisan basis here in the House last year. Now to add insult to injury, my Republican colleagues recently passed a budget that gives taxpayer subsidies to the Big Oil companies. In the face of a burgeoning debt and deficit and in the face of huge profits by the oil companies, why should the American taxpayers be subsidizing the bottom line of the most profitable corporations in the world?…
