On the recordJune 10, 2010
I thank our friend from New Jersey and thank him for his leadership as well. Let me close by pointing out that there is a danger to bumper-sticker public policy making. Those who lived by ``drill, baby, drill'' now have to examine not only their consciences but the consequences of the actions that flowed from that strident call. ``Drill, baby, drill'' has now become ``spill, baby, spill.'' The Governor of Louisiana today, Bobby Jindal, when he was in this body in 2005 said the following: ``We have a choice. Many of my colleagues do not want us drilling for oil off the coast of Florida and do not want us to drill for oil off the coast of California. I would ask those colleagues to join with me in providing incentives so that we can drill for oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The people of Louisiana,'' he said, ``welcome this production. We know it is good for our State, our country, and our economy.'' I wonder if the Governor of Louisiana might pause today in calling for the government's assistance to clean up the worst oil spill, and arguably one of the worst environmental disasters ever to descend on our country, to consider whether that public policy statement made sense then and whether it makes sense now.
