Speaker & Majority Leader: A Comprehensive OCS Energy Bill Will Help Lower Gasoline Prices for American Families

Speaker & Majority Leader: A Comprehensive OCS Energy Bill Will Help Lower Gasoline Prices for American Families

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today commended the Senate for passing the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (S. 3711). It follows passage of a more comprehensive bill in the House of Representatives on June 29. Hastert and Boehner issued the following joint statement:

"The energy bill passed by the Senate is a good first step towards helping increase America's energy supplies and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy. Both the House and Senate are now on record supporting responsible deep ocean energy production to help lower gasoline prices for American consumers, and I'm confident a conference will allow members of the House and Senate to finalize details on this important issue.

"House Republicans strongly support our bill because we believe it does a better job of providing relief to working families being hit hard by high gasoline prices. Once we move to conference, I am confident that Chairman Pombo will work with leaders in both chambers and both parties to produce a responsible and environmentally-safe bill that helps address the concerns of the American people about rising energy costs."

On June 29, the House passed the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act (H.R. 4761), which would create thousands of family-wage American jobs and allow more of America's massive energy resources to be produced in the deep seas on the outer-continental shelf (OCS) while also empowering states to protect their coastlines.

http://speaker.house.gov/library/energy/060801S3711.shtml