On the recordMay 9, 2012
Mr. President, in an attempt to refresh our memory on what happened with the overreach of the EPA, we might remember that it was from this podium, I guess, 2 weeks ago--it was on a Friday that we found out and we had access to a tape that we released to the public. It has been on the TV and everyone has seen it now. It is a tape of the region 6 administrator of the EPA, Mr. Armendariz. At that time, when talking to the regulators who were under his jurisdiction and along with the public at a public meeting that was taking place in Texas, he said: But as I said, oil and gas is an enforcement priority. . . . I was in a meeting once and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement, and I think it was probably a little crude and maybe not appropriate for the meeting but I'll go ahead and tell you what I said. It was kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They'd go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they'd find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And let them die on a cross. Everyone would look at that. Then he said: And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. . . . So, that's our general philosophy. This is the EPA we are talking about, and this is 1 of 10 of the regulators. This happens to be the region 6 administrator.…





