FURTHER MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE -- (House of Representatives - October 07, 2005)
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Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Stupak substitute and in strong opposition to the underlying bill. I would use this moment just to wake up the city councils and boards of supervisors and county folks around this country, particularly if you have had a closed military base. Because this underlying bill just opens that up and says if the President of the United States decides we need oil refining capacities, they can puts it in your back yard. They waive all the requirements.
They did make an amendment at midnight last night that is still vague, but says they have to following BRAC re-use law, but that does not affect Federal lands that may be in the closed base. So essentially they could parachute an oil refinery in the middle of a closed military base, and it waives all of the requirements that are local, zoning and all of that. That just would not have any effect.
I will tell you why this is crazy. Because one of the bases that would probably qualify with a deep port and a lot of land is Fort Ord. Fort Ord, California, is surrounded by the National Marine Sanctuary and is one of the most beautiful areas in the whole United States. The last thing we should ever do is have an oil refinery there. This is a crazy bill, and I urge its defeat.
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