Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate are seeking to revive the spirit of their energy sit-in during last August’s congressional recess, introducing legislation that would allow for more exploration of offshore oil and natural gas.
“Let’s pursue the fight we had last summer of an all of the above energy strategy,” Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday night on Fox News.
House Republicans, led by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), introduced energy legislation they allege would amount to a “no cost” stimulus. Shadegg was a cosponsor of the House version, while Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) introduced the Senate version of the bill.
“Well, the timing is perfect,” Vitter said during the same interview, playing off of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) previous indications that she might be open to a second stimulus. “She’s pretty much admitting that this stimulus bill is not going to be enough to really revive the economy and get us on the road to recovery, and it just so happened that we were introducing our plan today, so the timing was perfect.”
The bills would lease land on the continental shelf, within the coastal plain, and relax regulation for offshore oil and natural gas.
“We’re not the policy of no,” Shadegg added. “This is the policy we proffered last year on the energy fight.”
Watch a video of the appearance here: