Congressman Kimble Addresses the Pacific Coast Petroleum Institute

[A speech by Congressman Jack Kimble to the Pacific Coast Petroleum Institute]

My friends, this is not an easy time for any of us. A cataclysm of unspeakable proportions threatens the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf and every five days an Exxon Valdez worth of oil spills into the Gulf. The damage is immeasurable and the full impact of this disaster will not be seen for years to come.

It is natural that at this time of crisis our prayers and our sympathies go out to the BP shareholders and board of directors. I see the suffering on the faces of my friends who lobby for them, in the stock ticker, and I want to help in anyway that I can. However, even as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives there is very little I can do to alleviate their suffering.

I am reminded of President Reagan after the Challenger disaster when he said, “Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.”

Those words are truer now that ever. We choose to drill for oil offshore not because it is easy, but because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone by using renewable energy, and because as Americans we know we look stupid in small electric cars. As Americans it is our God given right to explore this great country from sea to shining sea and to do so at 14 miles per gallon.

Already, the forces of big government want to use this tragedy as an excuse to apply big government solutions to cleaning up this spill and putting in so called “common sense” regulations into place. Do not be fooled. I heard Rush Limbaugh earlier today and he makes an excellent point, "The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there," Limbaugh said. "It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is."

We know that eventually the oil will simple mix into the waters of the ocean and be so diluted by the huge quantities of water to be harmless, but unfortunately the damage will already be done. Oil prices may be reaching $100 a barrel by mid-Summer and as Americans we cannot accept this.

I am calling on President Obama to work with Republicans in Congress to look for new places where we can drill. We should not rest until every usable drop of oil is extracted from the Earth for it is the lifeblood of our economy. This is a time where we can make no small plans. This is a time for action. This is a time for America to again stand tall. This is a time to drill, baby drill.