Ted Poe: “the number one polluter of oil off our coast is Mother Nature. Crude oil seeps to the surface, and Mother Nature causes…”

“the number one polluter of oil off our coast is Mother Nature. Crude oil seeps to the surface, and Mother Nature causes 62 percent of the crude oil pollution off our coast. So the way we resolve this problem and get even with Mother Nature is we ought to drill where Mother Nature has that oil, take it out from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, and use it to take care of America. But there is a problem with that. We don't drill anywhere except off my native Texas coast, off Louisiana, Mississippi, and part of Alabama. The rest of this, where it is red on this chart, is prohibited. It is time for Congress to take the handcuffs off of this inaction and allow leasing off these shores. Now they say that the oil companies have enough leases; why don't they drill there. The problem is when they drill there, they get a dry hole. And common sense says when they get a dry hole, they quit drilling even though they must continue to pay for those leases. So it is time to let America take care of America. It is time to let our oil go and take care of ourselves, otherwise this red area that we see here will remain off-limits, and it should be drilled for the crude oil to take care of our country. And that's just the way it is.”