***House Completes Action on Trio of Bills Aimed to Expand Domestic Energy Production***

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson Thursday voted in support of H.R. 1231, the Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act, which passed the House by a vote of 243-179.  H.R. 1231 is the third in a trio of bipartisan bills recently passed by the House aimed to increase domestic energy production.  This is the second consecutive week that the House has focused its legislative efforts on energy policy and rising gas prices. 

H.R. 1229, the Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act, passed the House Wednesday evening by a vote of 263-163 and H.R. 1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, passed the House last week by a vote of 266-149.  Thompson, a co-sponsor of all three bills, issued the following statement earlier today:

“Bipartisan support is growing in the effort to increase American energy production and both sides of the aisle recognize this work as critical to long-term energy security and bolstering job growth across the country. The House in bipartisan fashion has shown its willingness to place policy before politics by passing these three bills that will remove the impediments to domestic energy development and begin to address the burden of $4 gallon gas at the pump. I ask my colleagues in the Senate to heed this bipartisan call for energy security by passing these critical pieces of legislation.”

The bipartisan support for these bills comes on the heels of Tuesday’s federal district court ruling, which found that that the Obama administration “unlawfully and improperly delayed” permits for deep-water drilling in the Gulf. 

Thompson currently serves on the House Natural Resources Committee, the committee of jurisdiction for all three bills.  Additional energy legislation from the Natural Resources Committee will focus on wind, solar, hydropower, coal, and onshore oil and natural gas development in the coming months.
 
Background information on H.R. 1231, H.R. 1229 and H.R. 1230:

•The Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act (H.R. 1231) would lift the President’s ban on new offshore drilling by requiring the Administration to move forward in the 2012-2017 lease plan with energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources.  

•The Putting the Gulf Back to Work Act (H.R. 1229) would end the Obama Administration’s de facto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico in a safe, responsible, transparent manner by setting firm time-lines for considering permits to drill, which provide certainty and allow employers and workers to get back on the job.

•The Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act (H.R. 1230) would require the Obama Administration to move forward promptly to conduct offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Virginia that the Obama Administration has delayed or canceled. Due to the Obama Administration’s actions, in 2011 there will be no offshore lease sales – the first time since 1958.

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