Contacts:

Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

David Lungren David_Lungren@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-5642

Inhofe: Reid Punt on Spill Bill Exposes Empty Political Exercise

Meanwhile, Obama's Job-Killing Moratorium Remains in Place, as Workers in the Gulf Suffer

Washington, DC - Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, issued the following statement after the announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to punt consideration of a Gulf oil spill bill until September.

"That Majority Leader Reid scrapped plans to consider oil spill legislation this week is not surprising; it merely exposes what we already knew: this was an empty political exercise from the beginning," Sen. Inhofe said.  "Meanwhile, as the Majority Leader dithers about how to exploit an environmental tragedy, thousands of workers in the Gulf are suffering because of President Obama's offshore energy moratorium.  The Republican alternative, of course, would do away with this job-killing nightmare.   Yet now, everyone from fishermen to manufacturers to waiters to rig workers is left wondering whether they'll get their jobs back.  The message those folks got today from Sen. Reid?  Keep wondering."

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