Kendrick Meek: “when are people going to get it in their minds that the people of Florida do not want oil and gas drilling in the sea…”

“when are people going to get it in their minds that the people of Florida do not want oil and gas drilling in the sea bed of the Gulf of Mexico? It does not take a Ph.D. to figure that out. It is simple. Why is it my colleagues cannot figure that out? Our Governor, Jeb Bush, has made it explicitly clear even to his brother that he does not want this to happen. Why can we not listen to those people who know what the deleterious effects will be of this in Florida? Within 30 miles of Perdido Key you want to drill. Sixteen million Americans residing in the State of Florida do not want it. Mr. Chairman, I will repeat it again, I do not have much time, the people of Florida do not want it. The Governor does not wanted it. So do not push the President into wanting it. Please remember we do not want it. Do my colleagues want to ruin our beaches? My colleagues want to turn us into another Planet of the Apes. We do not want it, the toxic pollution, offshore oil drillings, air pollution, spills. These things will happen. Why would we want to put our natural system at risk? We have Everglades here. We have the beauty that God has given us. Let us keep it. It is not that important. We are not going to stand for it. We are not going to allow it to happen. We will not allow Bush I or II and their best friends to destroy this beautiful natural system. Let us protect Florida's coastline and beaches. Support the Davis amendment.”