Lois Capps: “I thank my colleague from New Jersey for recognizing me. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1229. A year…”

“I thank my colleague from New Jersey for recognizing me. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1229. A year ago BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving 11 people dead and over 1,000 miles of shoreline oiled. It also left the local economy in shambles. The once lucrative fishing and tourism businesses were devastated by this spill. Many gulf residents are still struggling, and yet the oil industry would have us believe it suffered greatly during the temporary moratorium on new drilling. The fact is the gulf produced 1.6 million barrels of oil per day last year, an all- time record, and still the industry is clamoring for more. Today, we're considering another bill on their wish list that sidesteps safety and environmental safeguards. H.R. 1229 forces this administration to unreasonably rush the permitting process for drilling activities. These permits are a final review opportunity for the Federal Government to ensure that everything is in place before an oil company drills deep into our ocean floor, but the majority is using the strain of high gas prices to push Americans into thinking that drilling is safe and that hurrying these permits will bring down costs. {time} 1630 It's as if we learned nothing from the BP oil disaster. Mr. Chairman, we cannot say drilling is safe when Congress has not taken necessary steps to strengthen protections for rig workers and the environment.…”