Markey: GOP’s Dubious Drilling Debate Streak Sets New Records for Repetition
Natural Resources Dems Release Big Oil Vote Count Website as GOP Nears 100 Hours of Drilling Debate Time
WASHINGTON (July 24, 2012) – House Republicans have stalled Congress with nearly 100 hours of debate on oil drilling bills, passing 11 drilling bills out of the Natural Resources Committee and turning them into 6 massive packages of giveaways to Big Oil. Today’s Republican “Oil Above All” monstrosity, the sixth package to be voted on in the House this Congress, opens up America’s coasts to drilling without setting any new safety standards.
In response to this agenda, Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee today launched a new web page called “Big Oil Congress” that keeps a counter of votes cast by House Republicans to benefit oil and gas companies (139, as of the start of today’s bill) and total hours spent debating these special interest favors (89 hours and counting).
The website can be found HERE.
Below is the prepared statement of Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, in opposition to the latest Republican giveaway to oil companies:
“This Congress, the Republican Majority has reported 11 drilling bills out of the Natural Resources Committees. Those 11 bills have been combined and brought to the House Floor as 6 massive packages of giveaways to Big Oil. Two of those bills included largely similar provisions to the legislation we are considering today to dramatically expand offshore drilling without putting any new safety measures in place.
“And all of these bills have suffered the same fate. They were all far too extreme to pass the Senate and not a single one has been signed into law. Well, let me let everyone in on a little secret, this bill is also not becoming law.
“Like the bills before it, it can’t pass the Senate and the Administration has already said that the President would veto it. But that reality hasn’t stopped the Republican House from passing giveaways to the oil and gas industry over and over again.
“When you include bills that have been reported by all Committees, all together, this Republican House has already cast 139 votes on the Floor this Congress to benefit the oil and gas industry. We are going to pass 90 hours of debate on the Floor on oil and gas legislation this Congress. What a streak!
“When most people think of the great records in American history, they might think of Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak, or Cal Ripken’s 2,362 consecutive games, or maybe Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game or Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941. But when all is said and done, the record of this Republican Congress voting to benefit Big Oil might be just as untouchable a record. With already 139 votes and nearly 90 hours of debate on giveaways to the oil industry on the House Floor, this is a once-in-a-generation performance by this Republican Congress. It may stand as a record that can never be broken.
“Whether it’s voting 33 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or voting again and again and again for more and more drilling, under the GOP, this isn’t the House of Representatives, it’s the House of Repetition.
“President Truman dubbed the 80th Congress the ‘do nothing Congress’. Well, this is apparently the ‘do the same thing over and over Congress.’
“The Republican Majority has already cast 139 votes to aid the oil and gas industry, but how many votes have they cast to benefit renewables like wind and solar? Zero!
“While we have spent more than 90 hours debating legislation to help Big Oil, the Majority wouldn’t even allow debate on the Floor on an amendment to create a renewable electricity standard for our nation.
“Because the Republican energy policy isn’t ‘all of the above.’ It is ‘Oil above all.’”
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