Charlie Melancon: “this is a very memorable day, as far as I am concerned, with the hopes not only for the passage of this legislation but…”

“this is a very memorable day, as far as I am concerned, with the hopes not only for the passage of this legislation but for the people of Louisiana and for the people of this country. I know there are questions about the environment. Those have been around for 25 or 30 years. If you look at the record of the offshore oil industry, it has been very good. As a matter of fact, it has been excellent in the last 25 years. There have been more oil spills from ships and tank farms on land than there has been oil in the coastal waters of Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. I want to thank Chairman Pombo and Ranking Member Rahall for their working together. Even though there may be some differences between the parties and between the ranking member and the chairman, they have worked together to bring a bill that will do good for America. If you are happy with $3 plus a gallon of gas, if you are happy because your friends are being laid off from the petrochemical industry as those plants move to Saudi Arabia and other places where they get cheap natural gas, if you are happy to hear that our senior citizens up north, particularly, are living at 55 degrees on their thermostats, I don't think that is the way it should have been.…”