{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361932", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 11.18.13", "2013-11-18", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Drill, Baby, Drill \u2013 Guess What?\u00a0 It Worked! \nPreviously, President Obama mockingly described Republicans\u2019 energy strategy as:\u00a0 \u201cStep one is drill, and step two is drill, and then step three is keep drilling.\u201d\nHowever, regular readers of this column know that simply isn\u2019t the case.\u00a0 To provide jobs, secure our energy future, and keep costs low, we believe in an all-of-the-above energy policy in which we dig, discover, deregulate, and \u2013 yes \u2013 drill.\u00a0 For more, see my Energy webpage at /issues/.\nAnd guess what?\u00a0 The \u201cdrill, baby, drill!\u201d aspect of our energy policy is working.\u00a0 As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, \u201cU.S. gasoline prices have fallen to their lowest level in nearly 33 months amid a boom in domestic oil drilling \u2026\u201d\u00a0 The nationwide average price for a gallon of gas is now $3.19, which is the lowest it has been since February 2011.\u00a0 We still have work to do, because in the week prior to President Obama getting first sworn in to office, gas nationwide averaged around $1.90.\u00a0 That is why we should continue to explore for more domestic areas where we can drill, and welcome oil from our neighbor and ally to the north, Canada, by approving the Keystone XL pipeline.\nFurthermore, according to International Energy Agency estimates, the United States is expected to surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia in order to become the world\u2019s top oil producer by 2015 \u2013 two years ahead of its prior target year of 2017.\u00a0 And as President Obama mentioned in his November 16 video address to the nation, \u201cfor the first time in nearly two decades, the United States of America now produces more of our own oil here at home than we buy from other countries. \u201c\nOf course, drilling for our own domestic oil and natural gas presents us with the opportunity to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and also lower prices at the pump.\u00a0 But there is more that can be done to tap into our country\u2019s abundant and affordable domestic energy resources.\nIn addition to our oil and natural gas, other resources like coal, nuclear, wind, solar, hydropower, and biomass may all play a vital role in securing our energy future.\u00a0 We just need to have a regulatory environment that will allow and encourage private investments to use all of the above resources.\nWhen I say \u2018deregulate,\u2019 I am not saying that we should get rid of all regulations.\u00a0 Instead we should roll them back to a reasonable level, getting government out of the way and allowing private businesses to more freely explore for and make use of our domestic energy resources.\u00a0 The various energy companies won\u2019t need taxpayer dollars if we give them a rational regulatory system.\nI have said it before, and I will continue to say it: American workers are the very best in the world.\u00a0 We are experienced, innovative, and hard-working.\u00a0 When we combine these qualities with our affordable energy resources and get the government out of our way, no other country can compete with us.\nObamacare Enrollment Numbers, In Perspective\nFor weeks, the Administration tried to lower expectations regarding Obamacare enrollment numbers.\u00a0 Now we see why:\u00a0 they recently announced that only 106,185 people enrolled in the health care law in the month of October.\u00a0 Of those, less than 27,000 selected an insurance plan through the federal website.\nTo put that in perspective, all 106,185 of those throughout the country who selected a plan last month could attend a race at Bristol Motor Speedway with room to spare: more than 53,800 of the speedway\u2019s seats would be left unfilled!\nAs always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671.\u00a0 To reach my office by email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. \n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=361932"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9668371640145779, "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"}