Mary Landrieu

I just don't know where else we turn if we can't use our own money that we basically generate

The people of my State cannot even begin to understand the position of this Administration to support, not 50 percent, 90 percent retention basically, of revenues to interior States that do not experience land loss, sink-age.

This whole entire river functions as an economic lifeblood for the entire Nation, not just the 4.5 million people that live here.

It's $30 billion that the Western States have maintained.

Coastal States got nothing. Truman offered us 37.5 percent.

I would describe it more than just opposition and disinterest. I think it's tragic.

Currently, under the Mineral Leasing Act, states receive 50% of the revenues generated from coal, oil and natural gas development.

The President seems to have some difficulty with the way that the Senator and I are allocating or expressing that the moneys that the coastal States would receive would go to conservation.

The Congress should provide for the distribution of revenues obtained from oil and gas leases on under seas land.

I find it tragic, the Administration's position on this issue.

It is long past time that we make coastal states the equals of inshore energy producing states by fixing the way that our revenues are distributed.

Yet, offshore production has generated $211 billion for the Federal government, yet only $29 million has been shared with the four Gulf States that host that production.

I just want to clarify something for the record.

If you have your two things or three things you want to get on the record, get them.

I have had any number of my constituents come up and ask me that.

I think our country should be leading the world in that.

I think that is kind of an interesting principle.

A number of us are going to insist that it be revenue neutral, that is, that it not be the situation where they do tax reform and at the end of the day small businesses say 'Oh, look, the Federal Government got another trillion dollars.'

I preach here all the time that the biggest problem that faces small business in America today is the Federal Government and the regulatory structure that it heaps on small businesses day after day after day.

Maybe startups should be completely free.

It is also a big disincentive for people who are thinking about starting a business because of that regulatory burden.

They are entrepreneurial.

If you want to have a capitalist system, you need to have more capitalists.

I have to warn you that there are people here in the Congress who do not look at this necessarily as an opportunity to help you, but rather to help themselves; that is, they want to do tax reform so that they can extricate more money out…

I would like to announce that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship will meet on July 17, 2013, at 3 p.m. in room 428A Russell Senate Office building to hold a roundtable entitled ``Small Business Tax Reform: Making the Tax…