Mr. President, I am going to speak for 2 or 3 minutes in a brief introduction, and then turn it over to my colleague from Louisiana. We are both very excited and enthusiastic to present to the Senate and to Congress work that has been underway for almost a year. As you know, next week on April 20, we will be marking the 1-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 men-- they are still in our thoughts and prayers, and their families to this day--injured dozens of others and shocked millions with the explosion that occurred a year ago next Wednesday. There are many steps our Nation has to take and must take to respond to that horrific incident. Senator Vitter and I are on the floor today to introduce the Restore the Gulf Coast Act of 2011, which we believe is one of the most important things that needs to be done in response to this incident. It was frankly long overdue even before this tragedy happened, and I will briefly explain. This gulf coast is a very important coast of America. I know all of the people of our coasts believe they are all important--but we who live on the gulf coast are particularly proud of the coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida because on this coast not only do we have port and maritime activities, which is true of every coast, we also support the Nation in hosting a very important domestic oil and gas industry, which is primarily offshore, but a great deal on shore, both close and on our marshes.…
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Madam President, I most certainly have enjoyed this colloquy and have been down on the floor most of the day. I am extremely disappointed I could not get any Member of the other side to recognize me for questions. I see the minority leader…
I thank the Presiding Officer. First of all, let me associate myself with the remarks of my cosponsor, Senator Hoeven, who before he had to slip out the door to take a call relative to this vote was really very clear on so many important…
Reserving the right to object. I thank the Senator from Texas engaging on this matter today. I appreciate it. Most importantly, I appreciate the comments he made earlier on the floor about rolling up our sleeves and getting to work. He was…
I ask unanimous consent to speak immediately after the vote for 10 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________





