John Cornyn: “the Senate is now taking up a very important piece of legislation that would open a huge area in the Gulf of Mexico for…”

“the Senate is now taking up a very important piece of legislation that would open a huge area in the Gulf of Mexico for deepwater exploration for oil and natural gas. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation and believe it is long overdue. At the same time, I am amazed when I hear our friends on the other side of the aisle. The Democratic whip this morning said this was an interesting proposal and he hoped we would have a good debate. I agree with both of those things. What he said I disagree with is that this is not about a national energy policy. He criticized the Federal Government not having a national energy policy. This is about a national energy policy. This is about eliminating the moratoria we have created ourselves that have prevented the United States from relying more on domestic production of oil and gas and relying less on imported energy from places in trouble, regions of the world such as the Middle East. As the current occupant of the chair knows, she and the senior Senator from Alaska have been fighting for years to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration and development. This is something that not only do Alaskans support but that would provide a tremendous boom to the United States in terms of our ability to develop domestic energy resources.…”