Press Releases

House Passes Bipartisan Bill to End Obama Administration's De Facto Moratorium in Gulf of Mexico

Today, the House passed H.R. 1229, the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, with a bipartisan vote of 263 to 163. U.S. Congressman Bill Flores (R-Texas) released the following statement regarding the House vote on H.R. 1229, which will end the Obama Administration’s de facto drilling moratorium in a safe, responsible, transparent manner – putting thousands of Americans back to work and increasing American energy production to help address rising gasoline prices:

“President Obama’s moratorium on exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is driving up prices at the pump, hurting American families and small businesses and costing our economy tens of thousands of jobs nationwide at a time when Americans can least afford it. In addition, the moratorium has dramatically decreased our domestic oil production, making us more reliant on unstable foreign countries for energy, many of which are not friendly to the United States.

“Our country has vast amounts of energy resources on our public lands and off our coasts that belong to the taxpayers. The strategic energy reserves in these offshore areas should be utilized in an efficient and environmentally sound manner to create jobs, grow our economy, lower energy prices and enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. For our economic future and the safety of our country, we must finally achieve energy security.

“I applaud the House for passing H.R. 1229, the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, which is the second of three bills introduced by the American Energy Initiative. Through this legislation we will end the Obama Administration’s de facto drilling moratorium and increase American energy production, putting thousands of Americans back to work and lowering prices at the pump. I would like to thank Chairman Hastings of the Natural Resources Committee for his support on my amendment to H.R. 1229, which includes language from a bill that I recently introduced that extends certain leases affected by the Obama Administration’s moratorium for one year. House Republicans will continue to pursue an all-the-above energy plan with a focus aimed at increasing our domestic production to bring down energy prices, while creating jobs here at home and ending our dependence on foreign sources of oil.”

For more information on what House Republicans are doing as a part of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT) to increase American energy production, help address rising gas prices and create new jobs, click here. 

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