House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) released the following statement on House passage of the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (H.R. 2231):

“For far too long, the Obama administration has restricted access to our abundant energy resources. Since the President took office, federal offshore oil production is down 12 percent and natural gas production is down nearly 40 percent. As we’ve found in our Committee hearings on America’s new energy paradigm and the Keystone XL pipeline, new technologies now make it more economical to safely produce vast amounts of oil and gas from unconventional sources. The Offshore Energy and Jobs Act will result in a new national energy strategy for a new era, and unleash robust job creation in the energy sector. This greatly benefits energy-related small businesses who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the government, and it helps all small businesses by lowering energy prices.”

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act would generate $1.5 billion in new revenue over ten years and economists predict it could create up to 1.2 million jobs long-term.

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