House Republicans Defeat a Bill to Increase Oil Production
July 17, 2008
| For Immediate Release: July 17, 2008 | Contact: Peter Karafotas (202) 226-6898 |
House Republicans Defeat a Bill to Increase Oil Production | ||
| Washington, D.C.–U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement today after the House Republicans defeated H.R. 6515, the Drill Responsibility in Leased Lands (DRILL) Act. The legislation which received 244 to 173 votes, did not receive the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the bill on suspension. "Today, the Republican minority in the House squandered an opportunity to responsibly increase domestic oil production and lower energy prices by opening up the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. For months and months, the Republicans have been demanding that we increase oil production, by drilling in environmentally fragile areas, but when given a chance to drill in a place that will produce more oil than ANWR they defeated the measure. Today's vote demonstrates the hypocrisy of the Republican position. The DRILL Act would have nearly doubled domestic oil production in the U.S. by forcing oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres of land they already have leased and by granting new leases on 20 million acres of land in the National Petroleum Reserve. I look forward to continuing to work with my Democratic colleagues in the House and those Republicans who are serious about passing meaningful energy legislation that will make us more energy independent, reduce the price of energy, create jobs and reduce global warming.... |