On the recordMarch 14, 2011
I am disappointed in the administration's reluctance to get the Gulf of Mexico back to work. We did have a terrible tragedy in April, almost a year ago, April 20, the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. For 40 years or longer, 40,000 wells have been drilled safely in the gulf, in shallow water and in deep, since 1940, deep water coming into play in about 1985. Up until the Deepwater Horizon accident, this industry had acted responsibly in large measure with cutting-edge technologies. Yes, we have to continue to investigate what happened, but shutting down so much of our domestic drilling with the unrest in other parts of the world is not the right policy. I associate myself with the remarks of the Senator on energy as well as tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is not a crisis of supply; it is a crisis of pricing. SPR should only be tapped when there is a supply issue. We can get back to drilling more at home and be efficient in other places.
