Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 5577 is a bipartisan bill, introduced by two of my colleagues on the Committee on Natural Resources, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal). It really would bring the offshore oil and gas leasing system into the 21st century. Last month the Department of the Interior took one step in that direction by streaming the opening of leasing bids live on the Web. However, companies still submitted their bids by sticking them in an envelope and mailing them. This bill would direct Interior to start moving that process online and to provide much more transparency by ensuring that the public has access to all the data from these sales in machine-readable and downloadable format. H.R. 5577 will also ensure that people across the country can follow these sales in real time. I commend the sponsor of this bill for their efforts to improve government operations. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”