Today, Rep. Calvert released the following statement in response to the House passage of H.R. 1613, The Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act, and H.R. 2231, The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act:
"Rarely does legislation come before Congress with so many benefits. The energy bills passed by the House this week will create jobs, increase American energy production, generate significant state and federal revenue, and enhance our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Unlike President Obama's energy strategy of having the government choose winners and losers, I believe we need an All-of-the-Above approach that truly aims to make North America energy independent. If we follow President Obama's plan of imposing more taxes and more regulations on our domestic energy producers it will significantly increase energy and other costs for American families and ship jobs overseas. Thankfully, House Republicans will work to create jobs while increasing our energy production."
Background on the energy legislation passed by the House:
H.R.2231 - The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act
The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act would expand U.S. offshore energy production in order to create over a million new American jobs, lower energy prices, grow our economy and strengthen national security.
The bill removes federal government barriers that block production of our own U.S. energy resources.
President Obama has effectively re-imposed an offshore drilling moratorium and imposed a leasing plan that keeps 85 percent of our offshore areas off-limits to American energy production.
A report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service confirmed that the 15 lease sales in President Obama's five-year plan represent the lowest number of lease sales ever offered in a plan since the process began in 1980.
In contrast to President Obama's no-new-drilling, no-new-jobs plan, H.R. 2231 proposes a drill-smart, job-creation plan that would require the Administration to move forward with new offshore energy production in areas containing the most oil and natural gas resources, including the Atlantic Coast and Pacific Coast.
It also requires the Secretary of Interior to conduct oil and natural gas lease sales that have been delayed or cancelled by the Obama Administration and implements a fair, equitable revenue sharing program.
According to the Congressional budget office the bill would generate $1.5 billion in new revenue over ten years and could create up to 1.2 million jobs long-term.
H.R. 1613 -- The Outer Continental Shelf Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreements Authorization Act
H.R. 1613 would enact the terms of an agreement signed by the Obama Administration and Mexico to govern how to explore, develop, and share revenue from oil and natural gas resources along the maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the U.S. State Department, these areas are estimated to contain 172 million barrels of oil and 304 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
These areas are ready to be explored and developed; activity will begin there as soon as the agreement is enacted, putting Americans to work and generating tens of millions of dollars in new revenue.