On the recordJune 28, 2013
I rise in strong opposition to this motion. This motion epitomizes what's wrong with Washington Democrats' energy and economic plan. Let's start with the obvious: the Great Lakes are not part of the Outer Continental Shelf. The second thing is current law already provides for offshore drilling to be done, using America's goods and service wherever practical. So their empty argument doesn't make any sense at all. But more importantly, Mr. Speaker, this week offers a true contrast between two visions for how to fuel our economy and to build manufacturing jobs. One vision was laid out by the President earlier this week. While we are currently in the midst of a transformation in the way we produce American energy cleanly, affordably, abundantly, and responsibly through the use of new and improving technology, how does the administration respond? By declaring a war on coal and picking winners and losers in energy production, both of which have been an assault on job creators, especially for American manufacturing. Even as we've been debating this bill, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have responded by attempting to drown offshore production with more regulations and declarations that make it more difficult to achieve energy independence by 2020, thus, killing tens of thousands of American jobs that could be created. But, Mr. Speaker, there is another vision of how we can energize America through the responsible production of our resources and create American jobs.…
