U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the  American Energy Solutions Group, led a Congressional delegation that  visited sites affected by the Gulf  oil spill on Tuesday. Following the visit, Congressman Pence wrote the blog entry below on his website:  "Mr. President,  Lift The Moratorium  Immediately".

Today, I led a delegation of Republican Members of Congress to New Orleans to see firsthand the  impact of the BP oil spill, the status of  the clean-up and the state of  the economy in the  region.  Our meetings included BP's Chief Operating Officer; a parish president named Billy Nungesser and local small  business owners, fishermen and academics. Then we took a 100-mile flight to the source of the spill.

As we flew to the site, we only observed one oil slick. Department of Homeland Security officials told us that just weeks  before, our flight plan would've  revealed a layer of oil "as far as the  eye could see," but today there is almost no sign of oil. Apparently,  the combination of significant use of  dispersants (which were delayed  three weeks by administration officials), skimming and surface burns appear to have finally mitigated the impact of  the spill after more than 100 days. Flying over the  site of the BP spill, I observed  a skyline of oil platforms and ships  performing a "static kill" of the well and just weeks away from a permanent end to the spill with a relief  well. Again, even at the source, there was no detectable oil on the  surface. As one fisherman told me,  "Apparently, we're blessed." But that cannot be said for the local economy.

For the people of this region, the future is much less hopeful, not because of the spill, but because of the Obama Administration's moratorium on deep water drilling.  After a slow  response by the administration that  saw 10 days pass before senior  officials were even sent to the Gulf and  weeks before the President even  called the CEO of BP, it appears that  the environmental threat to the  region is beginning to abate.  But  the economic threat of the  moratorium hangs over this region like a  sword. As one business leader said, "people in the oil industry are busy now with the clean-up,  but it’s all about to fall off  a cliff." He was referring to that day when  the clean-up ends and the  Obama Administration's moratorium on deep water  drilling  continues. Deep water  drilling isn't merely a part of the  region's economy; we learned it really  is where many of the jobs are  today and where the future of oil  exploration, either in our waters or  somewhere else in the world, is headed.  According to a  study presented to us by Dr.  Joseph Mason, an LSU economist, the arbitrary  six-month moratorium  imposed by the Obama Administration will cost the  region more than 8,000  jobs. For every one  job on a rig, there are several more ancillary jobs on shore. And beyond  the 33 rigs that were shut  down, we were told another eight new oil rigs  that were moving to the  region were idled. Jobs are literally sailing away from the Gulf. But oil  industry jobs are not the whole story. A  small business owner told us that  she and her 14 employees supported at  least 40 other businesses that would  be threatened if this owner’s business went away. According to Dr. Mason, only 25 percent of the 8,000  jobs lost in the first six months would come  from the industry. The rest  would be like those suppliers the small  business owner mentioned. The  ripple effects of the moratorium are almost  incalculable.

As we flew back  to the mainland, and I saw the  miles of boom and the array of clean-up  efforts winding down on the shore of Grand Isle, my heart went out to the  people of New Orleans and  the entire Gulf. The people of the Gulf have suffered enough. Let's finish  the clean-up. Let's find out what  happened and hold BP fully responsible  for the impact. Let's find out  why the federal response was so slow and  work to improve it in the  future. Let's take reasonable measures to  improve safety and accountability. But let's let  these people get back to work. For America, for the people of this hard  hit coast, for heaven’s sake, Mr. President, lift the moratorium  immediately.