U.S. Congressman John Boozman 3rd District of Arkansas

House Seal Outline

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Washington, Jul 30 -

In the worst economy in more than two decades, Speaker Pelosi continues bringing job-killing legislation to a vote on the House Floor. The latest bill, sold as a response to the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis, is estimated to cost up to 300,000 jobs and $147 billion in lost revenue. 

H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2010 would eliminate the $75 million cap on economic liability for offshore spills, replacing it with an unlimited liability cap and creating problems for Arkansas’ independent producers. 

“Raising the liability cap creates financial challenges to businesses that have a proven track record of responsible drilling on and off shore. These small businesses rely on affordable insurance to secure American energy. The high cost to buy liability insurance could be too high and lead these companies to cut back on drilling and exploration or close down altogether,” U.S. Representative John Boozman said. “Congress needs to focus on job creation policies, not legislation that hurts our small businesses and hardworking Arkansans who rely on these companies to provide for their families.” 

Boozman opposes H.R. 3534 which contains additional regulatory burdens on the U.S. oil and gas industry and seeks to impose excessive new energy costs on American consumers and producers. 

“Before we rush legislation on drilling reforms, we need to have all the facts about what caused and contributed to the Deepwater Horizon explosion. It would be irresponsible to make changes to our policies when we don’t have all the answers so we don’t know what we need to do to safeguard against those problems for the future,” Boozman said. 

This legislation also includes provisions unrelated to the offshore drilling reforms such as tax increases on natural gas and oil that will raise energy prices for all Americans.  

“This is a reminder that we must adopt a comprehensive energy strategy that includes deepwater exploration in environmentally sound ways in addition to supporting nuclear, clean coal and alternative energy sources,” Boozman said.