Washington, DC – Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), today voted against a bill that the democratic majority hopes to use to distract Americans from the majority’s unwillingness to act in a meaningful way to address skyrocketing fuel costs. The Drill Act, H.R. 6515, contains eight sections, six of which bring nothing new to the table when it comes to oil exploration. Two sections actually make oil drilling and exploration less likely.

"I have always, and will always support genuine and meaningful development of American energy. Unfortunately, this democratic proposal actually provides disincentives for oil production.

"Most of the bill is redundant and provides no new opportunity to expand American energy development, while several sections will actually increase cost of oil production.

"This is just another example of how ideologically opposed to energy development the Democrat party is. The majority’s Drill Act does not open up areas where everyone knows oil is readily accessible, but through a bureaucratic slight of hand increases the risk and minimizes potential returns on new drilling. We need to do the opposite if we truly wish to have meaningful progress in the development of America energy."