House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after today’s unemployment numbers showed 36,000 jobs were lost in the month of February:

“The American people have grown weary of waiting for this Administration to enact policies that will actually help create jobs. It’s been over a year since the nearly one trillion dollar stimulus was signed into law and unemployment numbers have only gotten worse. With more job killing legislation on the way in the form of a national energy tax, and the recent National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners study detailing the harmful economic impact of maintaining the ban on onshore and offshore drilling, it should be clear that domestic energy production is vital for job creation. Unfortunately, the recent news from Secretary Salazar on the delay of the new five-year offshore drilling plan is just further bad news from an Administration that is not leaving Americans much ‘hope’ that their prospects of employment will ‘change’ anytime soon.”

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