ways. the virginia lees parcel, 220, and it is a lease parcel which the republicans would like to put back into play with their bill, when you look at it about 78% of that parcel, you have to immediately take off the table, because it would occur in areas where military operations would be impeded. i want to thank my colleague, gerry connolly, from virginia, for putting forward an amendment on this bill which would shift the burden say the department of defense has to affirmatively conclude that you will not impede these kinds of military operations in order to drill. so you take that out of the equation, then you take another chunk of it out because you need to keep commercial shipping lanes opened, what you're left with is about 10% of the parcel that you could actually drill on. what you could get from that would overwhelm supply the demand of the country for one day. so you would be putting at risk

this valuable, sensitive chesapeake bay and all the surrounding areas for getting one day's worth of energy production. that just doesn't make sense. i think it undermines the bill on a wholesale basis. it shows that this is not put forth in a way that is sensible. for that reason i oppose the legislation. i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. chairman, i am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia, another valuable member of the natural resources committee, mr. wittman. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. wittman:thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like to thank the chairman also, for his leadership and work on making sure we address the energy needs of this nation. virginia has the opportunity to develop offshore energy in an environmentally friendly and responsible manner. like any industrial or commercial activity, energy production has its risks, however those risks have been significantly mitigated and

offshore energy production can be conducted in a safe and responsible manner. unfortunately, the administration has halted any further oil and gas development in the atlantic ocean. our economy continues to struggle and any further increase in energy prices will exacerbate that struggle. we are now working to regain our footing, as unemployment hovers at 9%, with the unrest in the middle east and north africa, those issues continue to threaten this nation's energy security. failure to properly and promptly address our energy needs could negatively impact the u.s. economy and stall any recovery, and continue to affect national security. energy production offshore of the commonwealth could create thousands of jobs and generate much needed revenue to reduce the deficit. the department of interior has calculated virginia could produce 500 million barrels of

oil and 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, natural gas being one of the most economically viable and environmentally friendly sources of fossil fuels. a recent study by i.c.f. international concluded that offshore energy production in virginia could create 1,888 new jobs and generate 19.5 billion in federal, state, and local revenues. i can tell you in virginia as we struggle to find dollars to clean up the chesapeake bay, struggle to find dollars for transportation, that those dollars are much needed. virginia can lead the nation in improving our energy security and reducing our reliance on foreign oil, and to do that we must reinstate the planned offshore oil and natural gas lease sale. with that i urge my colleagues to support this measure. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from virginia,.

mr. connolly. the chair: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for two minutes. mr. connolly: thank you. i thank you, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, you know, i hate to say it, but what we are hearing here on the floor of the house of representatives in defense of this legislation is snake oil. somehow the commuters, the hard-pressed commuters and consumers of gasoline in this country are supposed to believe that if today we unleash all possibility of oil drilling, gas drilling offshore, continental united states, we are going to be producing barrels of oil. false. we are going to reduce the price of oil today equally false. in fact, there's plenty of evidence that the market that drives oil is relatively an elastic.

we heard earlier today on the floor of this house, driving is down. demand is down. supply is up. but so are prices. in fact, if you look at this chart, there's an erie -- eerie, correlation between oil profits and the spike in the price of gasoline charged to our hard-pressed consumers in the united states. . the other side wants you to believe with a smoke screen that somehow their tax subsidies being cheaged or lifted would in fact further increase the price of oil. they have low tacks, low royalties, they have record profits, how has that worked out for the average driver in america? this is produced record gasoline prices. the republican policy that will be enshrined today in this legislation have produced these profits and those costs for the average consumer in america. it is wrong and to argue

otherwise is selling snake oil. i urge the defeat of this legislation on behalf of the consumers of america and i yield back to the distinguished ranking member. the chair: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: i yield two minutes to the gentleman from washington state, mr. inslee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. inslee: we should oppose this bill not because it is too strong but because it is too weak. americans do need relief from $4 a gallon gasoline and they are not going to get it from this bill either in the short-term or the long-term. the reason they won't get relief in the short-term is we're not drilling in the right places. we need to drill speculators, not just wells. even goldman sachs recognizes that a significant portion of

this huge spike in prices is due to rampant speculation in the market. but this bill doesn't do a single thing about that short-term reason for this short-term price, we need to drill speculators not just wells. but secondly, in the long-term, this bill does not give us what we need. my friends across the aisle told us they were going to give us an all of the above energy strategy. they haven't given us an all of the above strategy. they have just given us an all of the below strategy. because the only thing they are thinking about are these archaic technologies of drilling holes in the ground. we use 25% of the world's oil. we only have 3% of the world's oil supply. even if we drill in yellowstone national park. the dinosaurs just didn't die underneath our feet. we need new supplies of energy

of electricity, biofuels from targeted genetics in seattle, advanced form of algae biofuels from south fire energy and general atomics and other companies. we need new sources of energy not just below our feet but above our feet and in our minds where we get the intellectual capital to get these -- to invent these technologies. that's an all of the above strategy. let's get real short-term relief. defeat this bill and get a real energy policy for this country. the chair: the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: i'm going to reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from washington reserves his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: can you please tell me how much time is remaining in the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts has 3 1/2 minutes remain, the gentleman from the state of washington has 10 minutes remaining. mr. markey: i would ask the gentleman from washington state to please --

mr. hastings: i have a speaker coming to the floor right now. at this time i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from arizona, mr. flake. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. flake: i thank the gentleman for yielding, i won't take the full two minutes. i've been listening to this discussion, when you see graphics with an oil rig sucking money out of social security or medicare or whatever that was, you know you've gone beyond the realm of what is logical for a debate or the real facts about what this legislation does. the bottom line is it will make it easier for us to become more energy independent. not completely energy independent. it can't go that far. but it will make us more independent than we were before. it'll create an environment where jobs can be created by the private sector. it will help over time lower the price of gasoline because

it will create more supply in the end. that's what it does. it doesn't put a big oil rig on the top of medicare and suck money from our seniors. come on. this is just a measure to help the situation, to make it better. we've blocked off too many areas to oil drilling and we not exploited our own supply enough to help breng down price and to help consumers out there everywhere. so that's all this does. i commend the gentleman for bringing it forward. i urge support for it and i yield back the mans of my time. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: i yield one minute to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. holt. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. holt: i thank my friend, mr. markey. this is about big oil handouts, pure and simple.

there are no lessons learned, no lessonned applied with regard -- lessons applied with regard to safety or the environment. if these companies were energy companies, as they lake to say, they would invest more in producing sustainable, clean energy. alternatives. in the long run, we all know it, we've got to face the facts, we've got to break our addiction ooil. and if the majority, the authors of this legislation, really wanted to help the motorist the consumers, they would address speculation, they would enthe speculation. they would end the tax giveaway. they would use the strategic oil reserve to short circuit speculation. the oil companies are not energy companies. they are fleecing machines. the greatest profits of any corporation in history and you heard me say a few minutes ago that the biggest of them, exxon, had an effective tax rate of about .4%.

this will not help the consumer. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: can i inquire of my freppeds -- if my fend from massachusetts is prepared to close. mr. markey: i am prepared to close. mr. hastings: hold on just one second there, i have one gentleman who wants to speak. i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from louisiana, mr. landry. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. landry: i ran down here to thank my colleagues for doing what the american people have been asking them to do and to start the process of stopping to kick the energy problem can in this country down the road. finally, we're going to take the steps necessary to put

people back to work and to start america down a path of affordable domestic energy. now, they say that we're robbing grandma and grandpa. grandma and grandpa hold stock in those nrnl companies. down in louisiana, grandma and grandpa's grandsons and grandchildren work in an industry that provides that energy. right now, they don't have a job. they're being laid off or they're being stonet brazil or africa or the middle east to drill for oil out there. while we have spent over $1 trillion of taxpayer money funding the department of energy to wean us off of

foreign oil. i just rise to say thank you, mr. chairman, thank you to my colleagues who have come today in support of this amendment, and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: i would defer to the chairman of the committee, if he is the concluding speaker on his side, i'm prepared to close on my side. mr. hastings: at this time, i am the concluding speaker so i reserve my time. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. markey: would the chairman -- the chair: the gentleman has 2 1/2 minutes. mr. markey: i yield myself the remaining time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. markey: so here's where we are. the republicans take over. the republicans say they're ready to put together a plan for our country. it's one year after the b.p. catastrophe in the gulf of mexico, the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history.

last year, the republicans blocked passage of any safety legislation that would lerp the lessons of what happened in the gulf of mexico. the b.p. spill commission has come back. they say fatalities on u.s. rigs are four times higher than those on european rigs. we should be number one in drilling and we should be number one in safety. the plups refuse to deal with the endemic, systemic problems with safety identified in the american oil tri-. the oil tri-is now garnering the largest profits any corporations in the world have ever been able to enjoy. but the republicans refuse to bring out here legislation which will take away their tax breaks. they don't need to have tax breaks to do something they're doing anyway. it's like subsidizing a fish to swim or a bird to fly. we don't have to give them taxpayers' money. the ryan budget slashes benefits for grandma and

grandpa, then takes that money and gives it away in tax breaks to millionaires and to the oil industry. do we really need to tell grandma we're cutting back on her medical benefits and taking her must be -- her money and giving it in tax breaks to the biggest companies in america? and finally we should be talking about the stra teemic petroleum reserve. it was used by both president bushes, it was used by president clinton, it does work. the new york mercantile exchange is where oil futures are traded. it is a casino of crude oil right now. on one day two months ago, 45% of all the computer generated trades were in the oil industry. it was twice the value of all the oil in the world. that's what we need to do, to deal with those speculators and the way to do it is to deploy

the strategic petroleum reserve, deploy it now, send the fear of losing fortunes into the hearts of those speculators and you'll see the price of oil drop like a rock. that's what we need to do. that's what consumers need as they head into the memorial diday weekend. that's what people are wondering what is going to happen to our economy. 10 of the last 11 recessions in our economy are -- in our country are tied to the price of oil. 10 of the last 11 recessions. but what we saw in 1990, president bush won the war in iraq in 1990 an 1991, but because he never deployed the strategic petroleum reserve until it was too late, a mini recession and president clinton was able to defeat him. let's learn this lesson about the price of oil. ignore this agenda of the republican party. the chair: the gentleman from washington.

mr. hastings: mr. speaker, how much time? the chair: the gentleman has seven minutes. mr. hastings: i yield myself the balance of me time. -- of my time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hastings: this is an interesting debate, there's been a will the of rhetoric thrown around, some that opportunity apply whatsoever to the bill before us today. h.r. 1230 simply tells this administration that to go through with the lease sales already authorized by a previous administration, in other words, all these lease sales had gone through whatever process they had to go through, three of them were in the gulf of mexico, one on the coast of virming. we are simply saying, let's send a signal to the international markets that america is serious about becoming less dependent on foreign oil and we to that by saying, this administration should go through with these lease sales.

which i might add, mr. chairman, we have heard about the loss of revenue from the other side of the aisle, these lease sales themselves would provide the general fund with $40 million other the next 10 years. so this is a very -- what we're doing, which is ironic, we're telling this administration to do something, it should be doing by law anyway. that's what this is. i urge my colleagues to vote on this bill. we can have other discussion on the other bills in ensuing days. as far as the discussion talking about big oil, i don't know how many --ic probably count the number of colleagues on the other side of the aisle that didn't say something about big oil rather than those that did. but what is interesting, you would be led to believe that the only big oil in the world apparently are american companies. i would suggest that is entirely not true. in fact, when you talk about big oil, mr. chairman, really

who you should be focusing on is opec. because crude oil is an international product, a global product, no question about that. and yet opec controls 45% of the market. it is a cartel, mr. chairman, there is no question about that. and we all know simple economics if there's a cartel on any commodity on any commodity the way that you break the cartel is by increasing the supply. and that's what the combination of these three bills do, simply send a signal to the markets -- and i've said this over and over -- that we are serious about utilizing the resources that we have. now it's been said several of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said the united states doesn't have any resources. well, nothing can be further from the truth because if you look at government data on what the potential resources are in

the outer tenl shelf, and i am going to -- outer continental shelf, and i am going to say onshore, the potential resources for oil equivalent per barrel is in excess when you combine o.c.s. and onshore, the potential resources are in excess of two trillion barrels of oil. that far exceeds what one of my colleagues earlier, dr. fleming from louisiana, said. it far exceeds what they have in saudi arabia. in fact, in other opec nations. now, this rhetoric of trying to blame somebody when the issue really is something as basic as having a supply and -- out there that consumers can utilize. what we are saying here is two-fold. actually throw-fold. one relates directly to american jobs.

energy sector jobs are good-paying jobs, so let's encourage the energy sector in this country to expand so we can have those good-paying jobs. that's gd to get -- good to get the funk out of our economy. secondly, we become less dependent on foreign sources because energy is an important part of our growing economy. and if we have a stable source of that in the future, our economy can grow with the assurity we will have a stable source of energy. but probably more important long term, mr. chairman, the reason why we should pass these bills, to send the signal to the market is the national security issue. we all know that -- in fact, i mentioned opec. there are some countries in opec that are outwardly hostile to the united states. one of them is south america, venezuela. why are we relying on them for the supply of our energy when we have these resources that i just pointed out to you in

excess of two trillion equivalent barrels of oil? so, mr. chairman, this is the first step. this is the first step of starting the process of becoming less dependent on american -- on foreign oil and on foreign energy, i should say, and it is the first stststp with that i urge my colleagues >> the house than approved the bill to make lease sales for drilling off the shore of virginia and all of the gulf of mexico. a companion bill speeding the process is expected to be debated next week. in a few moments, president obama attends a replaying ceremony at the 9/11 site in new york "washington journal" is

live at 7:00 eastern. we will be joined by a publisher, and to break apart. -- and andrew breitbart. we will have a joint economic committee meeting to receive aprils committee and employment figures. that is on c-span 2 at 9:30 eastern. here on c-span, erskine bowles and alan simpson, coachers of the national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform, will discuss the budget deficits, entitlements, and tax policies live at 10:30 eastern. also at 10:30 on c-span 3, a pentagon briefing on the role of reserve units including comments from general james cartwright, a vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. president obama went to new york

yesterday for a wreath laying ceremony at the 9/11 memorial perry previously planned a trip followed the send a mission that killed osama bin laden. before the ceremony, the president visited firefighters at the pride of midtown fire house which lost 50 men on 9/11, more than any other fire house in new york city. this is about 5 minutes. [applause]

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[no audio] >> the main reason i came here is because i heard the food is pretty good. mayor guiliani performed heroic? almost 10 years ago but most of all to you, i wanted to come up here to thank you. this is a symbolic sites of extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day. almost 10 years ago.

obviously, we cannot bring back the friends that were lost. i know each and everyone of you not only grieve for them but also dealt with their families, their children and tried to give them comfort and support over the last 10 years. what happened on sunday because of the efforts of our military and the outstanding work of our intelligence sent a message around the world that when we think we never forget [unintelligible] our commitment to making sure the job was done is something that transcended politics, transcended party. it did not matter which administration was in or who was in charge, we were going to make sure that the perpetrators --

that they would have justice. it is some comfort i hope. when those guys took extraordinary risks going into pakistan, they did it in part because of the sacrifices that were made. this was for your brothers that were lost. let me just say that although 9/11 was the high watermark of courage for new york firefighters. you guys make a sacrifice every single day. you don't get as much attention but every time you run into a burning building, every time you're saving lives, you are

making a difference and that is part of what makes this city great and this country great. i want to thank you from the bottom of my heart on behalf of the american people for sacrifices that you make every single day. i want to let you know that you are always going to have a president and administration who's got your back the way you have the backs of the people of new york. god bless you. god bless the united states of america and with that, i will try some of that third, all right? thank you. [applause]

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[no audio] [no audio] [no audio] >> after meeting with firefighters, president obama participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the 9/11 memorial. former president george w. bush declined an invitation to participate, saying he has chosen to remain out of the public spotlight. this is 15 minutes.

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>> following the ceremony, the president met privately with victims -- family members of victims of 9/11.

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>> i'm not here to make a long speech. i am here to shake your hand and say how proud i am of all of you. obviously, we had an important day on sunday. the reason it was important was because it sent a signal around the world that we have never forgotten the extraordinary sacrifices that were made on september 11. we have never forgotten the tragedy, we have never forgotten loss of life, we have never

forgotten the courage that was shown by the nypd, by the firefighters, by the first responders. my understanding is that all of you were there that day. i know you will never forget and i know it is hard [unintelligible] to lose folks you have worked with for so long. hopefully what this weekend it does is it says that we keep them in our hearts. we have not forgotten. we did what we said we were going to do. america, even in the midst of tragedy, will come together, across the years, across

politics, across parties, across administrations to make sure that justice is done. since that time, i know a lot of you have probably comforted loved ones of those who are lost. a lot of you have probably looked at the kids who grow up without parents and a lot of you continue to do extraordinarily courageous acts. what we did on sunday is directly connected to what you do every single day. i know i speak for military teams and intelligence teams that help to get a sum up in late in. -- that help to get osama bin laden. you are part of the team that helped us achieve our goal but also helps us every single day.

i could not be prouder of all of you. i could not be more grateful to you. i hope you know that the country will continue to stand behind you going forward because there still will be threats out there and you will still be called upon to take a courageous action and remain vigilant but you will have an entire country behind you. god bless you. [applause] i very much appreciate the fact that mayor giuliani is here. we remember his leadership and courage on that day, as well. that is a testimony that we may have our differences politically in ordinary times, but when it

comes to keeping this country safe, we are first and foremost americans. thank you very much. thank you, appreciated, all right. [applause] i will get this crew over here. you guys don't mind, do you? thank you, guys. thank you, all right, come on. you have to be in front.

[no audio] >> there was also a wreath laying ceremony commemorating 9/11 victims at the pentagon. vice president joe biden was joined by defense secretary robert gates. this is about 5 minutes. [no audio] [silence] [taps]

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>> fort campbell, kentucky is the home of the 160 of special

operations aviation regiment that participated in the mission against of some of the inflated. president obama will be there this afternoon to thank service members reap -- recently returned to the united states. the president's comments are scheduled to begin a little before 4:00 p.m., eastern. in a few moments, today's headlines and your calls, live on "washington journal," live at 10:30 eastern, alan simpson and erskine bowles will discuss the budget, deficits, entitlements, and tax policy. in about 45 minutes, we will look at the results of last night's republican presidential debate in south carolina. our guest will be congressional quarterly roll-call columnist craig crawford. at 8:30 eastern, democratic representati