Tom Tiffany Points To Changing Of Bases Named After Confederates Amid 'Gulf Of America' Debate

3 days ago

During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) spoke about the renaming of military bases named after Confederate generals amid Democratic opposition to Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America.'

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Mr. Ezell, for five minutes of questioning.

00:02Thank you, Madam Chairman.

00:03Thank you for all being here today.

00:06For far too long, the Endangered Species Act, or ESA,

00:09has been overrun by federal agencies

00:11who implement radical environmental policies,

00:14making the ESA stray away from its basic intent

00:17to the recovery of species.

00:20The current ESA puts a burden on economic development,

00:23restricts public land use, and locks habitat restoration.

00:28Reform is much needed and the weaponization

00:30caused by bureaucrats in Washington is unacceptable.

00:34We must ensure common sense conservation.

00:37I'm a proud original co-sponsor of H.R. 1887

00:41and thank Chairman Westerman for his bold leadership

00:44and vision on this crucial legislation.

00:48Mr. Melito, you mentioned the importance of certainty

00:51in legislation and regulation to attract more investment

00:55and bolster America's competitive advantage.

00:58A critical ongoing aspect of this in the Gulf of America

01:02is the biological opinion for oil and gas operations,

01:06which NOAA has a deadline of May 21st to complete.

01:12Given the numerous ways that both the Gulf region

01:15and the U.S. benefits from energy production,

01:18how important is it that NOAA complete

01:20this biological opinion?

01:22Oh, it's vitally important because we have

01:24almost two million barrels of production every day

01:25and that's huge.

01:26Take that off the market, you'll have a dramatic increase

01:29in the price of energy for all Americans.

01:31It takes important funding away, it impacts jobs

01:34and we need that biological opinion in place.

01:37Otherwise, we're not gonna be able to continue to operate.

01:39So we're gonna continue to seek the help of Congress

01:42and the administration to make sure we don't have that gap.

01:44And if I get a chance, I'd like to comment one more time

01:46on Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

01:48I think there's some additional facts

01:49I'd like to put out there.

01:51The testimony details great statistics

01:53about the jobs that are supported

01:55by the Gulf of America oil and gas productions industry.

01:59To list a few, the average industry wage

02:01is 29% higher than the national average.

02:05An average deep water project produces

02:07roughly three billion in total direct wages

02:11and during the most active years of a given project,

02:14employment can be expected to peak

02:16at around 14,400 jobs.

02:20Can you expand on the way energy production

02:23in the Gulf of America supports individuals

02:25and families across the region?

02:28Absolutely.

02:28And it's not just the Gulf Coast.

02:30We have people throughout the country

02:33who are in jobs in companies, every state in the union.

02:36We have companies that support oil and gas production

02:38in the Gulf of America.

02:40And some will come out from the interior of the country

02:44and they'll fly out and they'll go out for three weeks,

02:46come back, go to their families for three weeks.

02:48But our supply chain is long and strong

02:50and we are supporting mariners, boat captains,

02:53engineers, electricians, welders, cooks, chefs, you name it.

02:57We need them in the offshore environment.

02:59We need those jobs and we need to make sure

03:01that we're creating a pipeline of energy

03:04and energy permitting and leasing

03:07so that we can continue to provide this energy

03:10for the American people

03:11and provide these good paying jobs for all Americans.

03:14Thank you very much.

03:15Madam Chair, I yield back.

03:16Could you yield to the chair for a moment?

03:20Absolutely.

03:21For the remainder of your time.

03:22Absolutely.

03:23Mr. Melito, you indicated that you had additional information

03:26you would like to share with regard

03:27to the Gulf of America.

03:29Yes, Chair Hageman.

03:30I'm not sure if you're aware,

03:31but there's a gentleman by the name of Scott Angell.

03:35He was a secretary of the Department of Natural Resources

03:37for the state of Louisiana.

03:39And he was also the longest serving director

03:41of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

03:43at the Department of the Interior

03:44during the prior Trump administration.

03:46He very seriously proposed the change of Gulf of Mexico

03:50to Gulf of America.

03:51And he proposed it because it sits between Texas,

03:54Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

03:57And it is home to American companies

03:59and American employees producing American energy

04:01and also American fishermen,

04:03both commercial and recreational and our military.

04:06He did that in a serious way years ago.

04:08So there has been serious efforts in the past to do that

04:11in addition to the comedians doing it as well.

04:14I just wanted to point that out.

04:16And I appreciate that history lesson.

04:18That's important that we remember those things.

04:21The chair now-

04:21Does the gentleman yield the balance of his time?

04:25Yes, he did.

04:26They said yes.

04:27Yeah, I'd like to follow up on that.

04:30It is really interesting to hear this high mindedness

04:33in regards to how can we possibly rename something

04:37when we had military bases being renamed

04:41over the last four years,

04:43when we have statues being torn down

04:47or being proposed to be torn down

04:49by the previous administration

04:51to all of a sudden be indignant

04:53about renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

04:56I find ironic.

04:57I yield back to the chair.

05:00And the chair now recognizes Mr. Walters.

Tom Tiffany Points To Changing Of Bases Named After Confederates Amid 'Gulf Of America' Debate

Category

Transcript

Recommended