Rep. Gene Green Responds to the President
June 16, 2010
Press Release
Washington, DC – Rep. Gene Green (TX-29) released the following statement in response to the President’s remarks on the recent Gulf Coast oil spill.
States along the Gulf Coast are in the midst of dealing with this tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and communities affected by this terrible accident. However, while we anxiously await a positive outcome from efforts to contain the spill, we are also beginning the process of thoroughly evaluating answers to the many questions we have as to what went wrong and how to hold responsible parties accountable. In the mean time, I support the President's efforts to create an escrow account funded by BP so that the persons affected by this accident will have access to the funds they need to rebuild their livelihoods.
Additionally, while the President touched on the issue, I intend to impress upon the Administration every chance I get that a six month moratorium on deepwater drilling will have damaging effects on the workers tied to this offshore production. The loss of jobs and domestic production we will see with a six month deepwater drilling moratorium is the last thing our recovering economy needs. The President’s bipartisan commission to investigate the disaster and recommend new regulations must carry out their task with immediacy. These new regulations need to be set in place long before the six month moratorium expires to enable the industry to get back to production. As a representative of many of these workers, I will fight to see that this moratorium does not last this long.
In meetings with the Mineral Management Service (MMS) and Secretary Salazar, I have consistently emphasized the negative economic impact that the shallow water drilling moratorium has had. In May, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) and I sent a letter to Secretary Salazar cosigned by a bipartisan group of 54 Representatives that was successful in lifting the shallow water drilling moratorium although some permitting issues remain. I continue to work with the Administration to see that these issues are fixed as soon as possible and I will continue to monitor the drilling issues in the Gulf closely.
###
Issues: