Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MARKEY. I thank the gentleman.

Oil companies already have the drilling rights to public lands the size of Minnesota on which they are not producing oil. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes, and the area oil companies already have could be the land of 10,000 wells but they are not drilling on it. And are Republicans saying they should drill on what they have? No. They want to put drill rigs off our beaches in New England, the Outer Banks, and California, all before we have implemented a single safety reform recommended by the independent blue-ribbon BP spill commission.

Today, five of the largest oil companies testified in defense of their billions of special tax breaks. ConocoPhillips said today it would be un-American to take away Big Oil's tax breaks. Well, it's not un-American. It's unbelievable that Big Oil has the arrogance to continue to defend its tax breaks as consumers are being tipped upside down at the pump.

And how are these tax breaks for Big Oil paid for? I will tell you how. The Republicans are planning to put a drill rig on top of the Medicare program. Republicans are building an oil pipeline into the pocketbooks of our seniors for tax breaks for the oil companies. The Republican agenda is to cut checkups for Grandma and cut checks for Big Oil. They want to cut health care for Grandma and give welfare to the Big Oil executives. The Republican plan is tax breaks for Big Oil and tough breaks for our Nation's seniors.

Vote ``yes'' on this recommittal motion.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source