U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) released the statement below following media reports today of a confidential plan under development by the Trump Administration to drill off of Florida's coast:

"It is outrageous that the Trump Administration is willing to put our state’s beautiful coast – and our state’s economy – at risk by expanding offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  Just last November, Florida voters made it clear that the risk of oil drilling is too much when they voted overwhelmingly – 68 percent – in favor of banning drilling in Florida’s waters. Earlier this year, my Florida colleague, U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, and I led the entire bipartisan Florida congressional delegation in urging the Department of the Interior to protect Florida’s coasts from oil and gas development. One of my first bills this Congress was the Florida Coastal Protection Act to permanently ban drilling off the coasts of Florida. A Department of Defense report last year stated that oil rigs off the west coast of Florida are in direct contrast with protecting the vital military mission in the eastern Gulf. The economic, national security and environmental reasons to prohibit off Florida’s coasts are paramount."

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