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Drill Act Promotes Drilling On 311 Million Acres Of Open Land

Volume
Volume 154 , Number 118
Pages
Pages H6679
Legislative Body
House
Date
Thu, July 17, 2008

(Mr. CARNAHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Rep. Russ Carnahan

legislator photo
Party
D
State
MO

Mr. Speaker, with high gas prices crippling the American economy, this country needs a long-term energy plan to lower gas prices, make America more secure, create green jobs, and reduce global warming.

House Democrats support responsible drilling as part of our comprehensive strategy, but many Republicans in Washington say we need to do more drilling in our pristine oceans and wilderness areas, even though 300 million acres of public land, more than three times the size of California, are already open for leasing. They want us to give more public land to Big Oil, even though 68 million acres of land are already leased and not being developed.

Today, the House will consider the DRILL Act. I urge my colleagues to join us in passing this vital legislation that will speed up development of NPRA, require Big Oil to use the land they have leased or lose it, and ban foreign export of Alaskan oil to ensure our oil stays in America.

Mr. Speaker, this is commonsense legislation that does exactly what many are asking for, more drilling. So why don't they support a bill that requires Big Oil to drill and not just stockpile more leases?