1-1     By:  Brown                                            S.C.R. No. 34
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2001; March 12, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
 1-4     April 5, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 5, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-7           WHEREAS, A strong domestic oil and gas industry is vitally
 1-8     important to the United States economy and national defense; and
 1-9           WHEREAS, This nation's domestic oil and gas production has
1-10     decreased by 2.7 million barrels per day during the last 13 years,
1-11     a 17 percent decline, at the same time that domestic consumption of
1-12     oil has increased by more than 14 percent; and
1-13           WHEREAS, Currently, the United States imports approximately
1-14     55 percent of the oil needed for the American economy, while the
1-15     demand for refined petroleum products is projected to increase by
1-16     more than 35 percent and the demand for natural gas is projected to
1-17     increase by more than 45 percent over the next two decades; and
1-18           WHEREAS, Much of the nation's greatest potential for future
1-19     domestic production lies in areas that are currently off limits to
1-20     oil and natural gas exploration and development, including areas
1-21     under congressional or presidential moratoria in the federal Outer
1-22     Continental Shelf (OCS), where vast amounts of oil and natural gas
1-23     may be available for extraction; and
1-24           WHEREAS, For the first time since 1988, the Minerals
1-25     Management Service, a bureau of the United States Department of the
1-26     Interior that manages the nation's oil, gas, and other mineral
1-27     resources in the OCS, has proposed an OCS lease sale for the
1-28     eastern Gulf of Mexico, in the portion of the Gulf 100 miles
1-29     southwest of the Florida Panhandle and 15 miles south of the
1-30     Alabama coastline; the bureau's tentative schedule calls for bid
1-31     opening and reading in December 2001; and
1-32           WHEREAS, The oil and gas industry has demonstrated that it
1-33     can be a good steward of the environment while operating in the
1-34     Gulf of Mexico; and
1-35           WHEREAS, Oil and gas production from this area of the Gulf of
1-36     Mexico would help offset current domestic energy production
1-37     declines and assist the nation in meeting future energy demand; and
1-38           WHEREAS, Numerous positive economic benefits for the State of
1-39     Texas have been created by oil and gas industry activities in the
1-40     Gulf, and many of the exploration and production companies that
1-41     would participate in the OCS Lease Sale 181 are headquartered in
1-42     Texas as are many of the oil field supply and service companies
1-43     that would benefit by increased activities; and
1-44           WHEREAS, The economic benefits that would result from oil and
1-45     natural gas exploration, development, and production of leases
1-46     acquired in OCS Lease Sale 181 would continue to benefit the State
1-47     of Texas and all the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico; now,
1-48     therefore, be it
1-49           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-50     hereby declare support for the Minerals Management Service plan to
1-51     proceed with the Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale 181 for the
1-52     eastern Gulf of Mexico scheduled for December 5, 2001; and, be it
1-53     further
1-54           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
1-55     copies of this resolution to the director of the Minerals
1-56     Management Service, to the secretary of the interior, to the
1-57     president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
1-58     representatives and the president of the senate of the United
1-59     States Congress, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the
1-60     Congress of the United States of America.
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