Rob Bishop: “I appreciate the last gentleman's statements. He may remember he still has the land range in Utah to use. Madam Chair, I…”

“I appreciate the last gentleman's statements. He may remember he still has the land range in Utah to use. Madam Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock). Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Chair, I respect the bill's author, and I understand that he is faithfully representing the opinions of the majority of his district in seeking to permanently place our offshore petroleum reserves off the coast of his State off-limits to exploration and development. All of our Nation's coastlines are beautiful, and they all support all sorts of tourism, commercial activities, and military activities important to their local communities and our Nation. For more than a century, offshore energy development has shown itself to be entirely compatible with these uses. To suggest that it is in some places but not in others is manifestly silly and wrong. For 22 years in the California Legislature, I represented California's Channel Islands, including the Santa Barbara Channel, which, by the way, is the home of the Pacific missile test range. Yes, in 1969, an outdated drilling technology produced the third- largest oil spill ever recorded, devastating tourism and fishing that year. I fully understand the fears of the supporters of this bill. But a little perspective is needed. The economic losses caused by the spill were fully compensated, and the environmental damage was quickly healed.…”