{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/12/sen-rick-scott-leads-bipartisan-florida-delegation-letter-to-president-trump-keep-oil-drilling-off-florida-s-coasts", "Sen. Rick Scott Leads Bipartisan Florida Delegation Letter to President Trump: Keep Oil Drilling Off Florida\u2019s Coasts", "2025-12-04", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "FL", "Rick Scott", "S001217", "www.rickscott.senate.gov", "rickscott", "https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/press-releases/", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Senator Rick Scott led Florida\u2019s entire congressional delegation in sending a letter to President Trump encouraging him to reject any potential plans from the Department of Interior that would violate his moratorium banning oil drilling off Florida's coasts. The members note that Florida's coasts are an iconic and pristine part of the state's environment, serve as a critical national security point for military training with the Gulf Test Range, and help generate jobs and over $127 billion in annual tourism spending.\n\nSenator Scott has worked with President Trump for years, both as governor and senator, to keep oil drilling off Florida\u2019s pristine coasts and is sponsoring the American Shores Protection Act to codify the president's moratorium banning oil drilling off Florida's coasts through 2032.\n\nRead the full letter HERE or below:\n\nDear President Trump:\n\nWe write as members of Florida\u2019s congressional delegation to express our strong opposition to any attempts to expand offshore oil and gas drilling off Florida\u2019s coasts. In 2020, you made the right decision to use executive action to extend the moratorium on oil and gas leasing off Florida\u2019s gulf and east coasts through 2032, recognizing the incredible value Florida\u2019s pristine coasts have to our state\u2019s economy, environment, and military community. This move received overwhelming and bipartisan support.\n\nThe recent announcement from the Department of the Interior\u2019s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on their proposed five-year offshore leasing plan, announced November 20, 2025, includes a \u201cnew\u201d planning area called the South-Central Gulf of America. If this plan were to move forward, the area would clearly fall within the area protected under your moratorium in a clear violation of your 2020 Executive Order. This area also falls within the Gulf Test Range, a critical military training area used by several military forces along Florida\u2019s Panhandle for advanced military testing, training, and evaluation of air and weapons systems.\n\nThe Gulf Test Range, remains an integral part of Department of War training to ensure mission readiness and is supported by multiple military bases in Florida\u2019s Panhandle. Collectively, these bases employ tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel and are of critical importance to national security. Eglin Air Force Base alone supports 20,000 personnel, provides the country with $11 billion in economic impact every year, and currently boasts 123,000 square miles of water range, which would all have to be reduced in an instance of an encroachment of the Gulf Test Range. The Gulf Test Range is the largest multi-domain military training and testing complex in the country, and its unique geographic characteristics enable critical preparation for real-world contingencies. Protecting this range from encroachment, including oil exploration, is essential. Over 50,000 jobs in the Panhandle depend directly on operations at these military facilities connected to the Gulf Test Range.\n\nFlorida\u2019s economy relies on that same beautiful coastline, vibrant tourism industry, and sustainable fisheries. In fact, Florida\u2019s beaches alone generate more than $127.7 billion per year in tourism spending and support over 2.1 million tourism-related jobs. Unfortunately, all these resources suffered devastating harm during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. That disaster wiped billions of dollars from Florida\u2019s industries and caused irreparable damage to our environment and coastal communities. The risks posed by new offshore drilling far outweigh any short-term gains.\n\nFor these reasons, we urge you to uphold your existing moratorium and keep Florida\u2019s coasts off the table for oil and gas leasing. Florida\u2019s economy, environment, and military readiness depend on this commitment.\n\nThank you for your consideration and leadership in preserving Florida\u2019s coast and security.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/12/sen-rick-scott-leads-bipartisan-florida-delegation-letter-to-president-trump-keep-oil-drilling-off-florida-s-coasts"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6964129861444235, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}