Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement after the White House decided to lift the moratorium on deep water drilling imposed nearly six months ago. A conservative estimate by the Administration in September listed potential job losses from the moratorium as between 8,000 and 12,000 – far below other estimates that claimed as many as 20,000 Americans could lose their job as result of this action.

“Today’s announcement does not excuse the Obama Administration’s brazen act of irresponsibility when it chose to impose a drilling moratorium that put folks’ livelihoods in jeopardy,” said Congressman Price. “The moratorium was a choice made by a liberal elite in Washington – in opposition to the recommendations of the White House’s own panel of experts – to unilaterally destroy jobs even while acknowledging the pain they might be causing hard working Americans. It defies common sense as to why it has taken them this long to reverse this reckless decision.

“Unfortunately, the moratorium is only one in a long line of disastrous decisions made by the Obama Administration and its allies in Congress – actions that have led to stagnantly high unemployment, a crushing debt, and massive uncertainty among job creators. The drilling moratorium epitomizes how out-of-touch Democrats have become to the needs of American families. And there are countless other areas – including tax hikes, spending increases, and government-run health care – where Democrats have pursued their liberal agenda by ignoring the will of American people.”