Political Quotes

“As the chairman expressed, he is exactly correct. Virginia is interested in being able to develop Lease Sale 220, and it is a bipartisan interest. It is both of our Senators from Virginia, it is our Governor from Virginia, it is our general assembly from Virginia. There is broad bipartisan support in moving forward with offshore energy production. Virginia has the potential to be a leader in oil and gas development on the east coast. I, along with many in Virginia, was disappointed when the Department of Interior announced that Virginia would not be included in the 2012- 2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It was in the plan originally. When the final plan came out, Lease Sale 220 was taken out and for no good apparent reason. We want the ability to be able to add it back because all the work has been done to have it there. We want to make sure the flexibility is there for the administration to do that. The Department's exclusion of Virginia from consideration essentially prevents the creation of thousands of great-paying jobs and around $19.5 billion in Federal, State, and local revenue. This amendment is a step forward for responsible offshore energy development and assures that decisions can be made in a timely way, especially when all of the environmental evaluation has already been done. We are not asking for any of that to be skipped.…”