Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 18, 2006)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Chairman, first I want to thank the chairman for the incredible job that he has done on this bill. It is one of the toughest pieces of legislation that comes before us every year, and he has done an incredible job. His staff is always willing to listen to all of us and put up with all of us, I thank them as well, and they know who I am referring to.

But I do need to say, Mr. Chairman, that there was an amendment put on during this process that I think would have, could have a devastating effect on the State of Florida, and that it would potentially allow for the drilling of natural gas, potentially up to just 3 miles off the coast of Florida.

And I do not need to remind everybody how important tourism is for the economy of Florida, $57 billion to the economy. We depend on that environment being pristine. There is a consensus in Florida, among the people in Florida and just about all of the elected officials of Florida, that this could be devastating for the State of Florida.

There will be an amendment by Mr. Putnam and others to try to remedy that. I will support that. I want to thank the chairman and staff again for always listening to us, and we hope that this great bill could be improved by taking out that part that can be very devastating to Florida.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/