Mr. Speaker, I represent a gulf coast district in Florida; so the safety of our coastlines is critical--it's of the utmost importance to me.
I am troubled that Cuba is moving ahead with plans to drill oil 50 miles off Florida's coast. Florida doesn't allow drilling within 125 miles of our shores; so why in the world would we allow Cuba to drill even closer?
Cuba's rig, built by the Chinese, would even drill deeper than BP's rig that exploded a year ago. And if there was a spill, they claim it would only take 3 days to get to our shores.
Whose problem does it become then? Let me guess, America's problem.
I have introduced legislation to stop this project. I hope my colleagues from both sides will join me in this effort to protect our coast.