Don Beyer: “To respond to both my friends from South Carolina, one of the dilemmas with the additional exploration is that, by law…”

“To respond to both my friends from South Carolina, one of the dilemmas with the additional exploration is that, by law, the data obtained from the seismic surveys are proprietary. They will belong to the many different companies that will be doing this, and they won't be available to the American public; they won't be available to local government officials; they won't even be available to Members of Congress. So this inability to access information will leave coastal communities without the opportunity to provide these substantive cost- benefit analyses that Congressman Sanford referred to. Our constituents would take on significant risks without being involved in the future development decisions. So, for that reason, I encourage us to vote for the Sanford amendment.”