Contacts:
Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797
Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160
Inhofe Supports Legislation To Help Bring Down Prices at the Pump
Democrat Majority Rejects Proposal, Provides no Alternative
Link to Video of Floor Speech: Inhofe weighs in on Energy Debate
Washington, D.C.-Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, today voted for a bill sponsored by Republican Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Offshore Production and Safety Act, which would increase production of America's abundant resources and help bring down prices at the pump. Democrats blocked the bill from full consideration by a vote of 42 to 57.
"Today I joined my Republican colleagues to vote for legislation that would allow us to produce more energy here at home, bring down the price of gasoline, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and create thousands of good-paying American jobs," Senator Inhofe said. "Unfortunately, my Democratic colleagues flat-out rejected the proposal-and this comes just days after President Obama admitted that increased domestic drilling would help reduce gas prices.
"The solution to skyrocketing gas prices is simple: increase supply. And, as the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reports, the United States has the largest recoverable resources of oil, gas and coal of any nation on the planet. The only thing standing in the way of developing these resources is politics in Washington.
"Democrats have made it very clear that they have no plan to reduce gas prices. In fact, by diminishing supply - through the Administration's de facto moratorium on deepwater permitting in the Gulf of Mexico, its restrictions on production on federal lands, and its regulatory agenda - prices have only gone up.
"The bottom line is that we can produce our way to energy security, create thousands of American jobs, and bring down prices at the pump. Washington just needs to get out of the way."
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