mr. chairman , i yield myself the balance of my time . 
i agree with my colleagues and i agree with the president . 
i agree , with the price of oil above $ 50 a barrel , we do not need relief . 
this provision does not do that . 
let me be clear . 
under the current mms rules , what this provision would do would simply provide relief for those companies making multiyear in many cases , multi , hundreds of millions of dollars of investments to produce oil for our country 's needs . 
we have a choice . 
many of my colleagues do not want us drilling for oil off the coast of florida and do not want us to drill for oil off the coast of california . 
i would ask those colleagues to join with me in providing incentives so we can drill for oil in the deep waters of the gulf of mexico . 
the people of louisiana welcome this production . 
we know it is good for our state , our country , and for our economy . 
we have a choice . 
we have to meet the growing energy needs of our country . 
what this provision simply does is make it economical for companies to take greater risk than they have ever had to take before to allow them to raise the capital and spend hundreds of millions of dollars , maybe even a billion dollars , on these rigs to produce the energy that our country so desperately needs , that our farmers need , that our petrochemical industry needs . 
we have a choice . 
we do stand with the president saying , no , we do not need relief at $ 50 , but we do need relief to make sure that there continues to be production , especially if the price falls below that threshold . 
but we have a choice : do we produce our own energy needs , or do we become increasingly dependent on foreign sources ? 
we have a choice . 
do we drill in the deep waters of the gulf of mexico where such production is welcomed and invited , or do we look to other areas where that production is not welcomed and not invited ? 
i do stand behind our president , and i invite my colleagues to also stand with our president and support the language as written , support the overall energy bill , and vote for domestic production . 
vote to keep manufacturing in our country , vote so we can become more independent of foreign sources of energy . 
the language as written is good language . 
it does not provide relief today . 
it does not provide those incentives today , but it allows companies to raise money to take risks to produce our country 's domestic energy needs . 
mr. chairman , i yield back the balance of my time . 
