WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded Senate passage by XX-XX of an energy bill that opens 8.3 million acres in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to new oil and gas drilling.

"Opening up a small portion of the vast Gulf of Mexico for oil and natural gas exploration will increase our domestic energy sources and generate new jobs and economic development for Americans," said Brownback. "We won't fix high gas prices by stifling oil exploration or adding new taxes or expensive regulations. What we can do is embrace a basic principle of economics—the best way to keep energy prices down is to increase supply."

Estimates predict that the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 could provide access to 1.26 billion barrels of oil and enough natural gas—5.8 trillion cubic feet—to heat and cool 6 million homes for 15 years. The bill now heads to a House-Senate conference committee.

Brownback commented from the Senate floor that while he supports expanded domestic oil production, he feels a comprehensive energy plan is important:

"Our dependence on foreign oil limits our foreign policy and national security options, and we need to develop more domestic energy sources as we face an increasingly unstable world. A comprehensive energy strategy should push for renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel and electricity as a transportation fuel. We can use market incentives to grow and innovate our way to more diversified fuel sources so that we rely more on the Midwest for our fuel, not on the Middle East."

Last fall Brownback joined several Republican and Democratic senators to introduce the Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act, which would reduce American dependence on foreign oil by setting goals for reducing national oil consumption, enacting market-based tax credits and R&D funding to encourage producers and consumers of fuel-efficient vehicles, and expanding the renewable fuels infrastructure. The bill was authored by Brownback and Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), and Norm Coleman (R-MN), and is co-sponsored by 24 other Republican and Democratic senators.

Senator Brownback is a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Judiciary Committee.