Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, if drilling off Florida is the only thing that is going to keep us from having high energy prices and a reliance on foreign energy, I don't know why that hasn't happened yet. Right now, we are not drilling off the coast of Florida, and we are energy dominant in the world. We are not drilling off the coast of Florida, and we continue to see energy prices dropping. As my colleague Representative Castor said, 69 percent of Floridians do not want to see drilling off our shores. Madam Chair, if you would like to drill off the coast of Louisiana or South Carolina, I would say have at it, but leave my beloved Florida alone. There are many reasons to oppose drilling off Florida's shores: our environment, our tourism economy, and our real property values. But I come to the floor today to plead the case for northwest Florida's military mission. The Gulf of Mexico test range is one of the only places in the world where we launch live-fire over water and land it on land. I cannot believe that I have to come here to make the argument that it is an incredibly stupid idea to launch experimental missiles over active oil rigs. That would seem to be obvious to most people. I know it is obvious to many in my district. This military mission is what keeps us safe.…”