September 21, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 163 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMEMORATING THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DRILLING CONTRACTORS ON 
                         THEIR 80TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEVE SCALISE

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 21, 2020

  Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker. I rise today to congratulate the 
International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) on their 80th 
anniversary. Formed in 1940, IADC's roughly 550 U.S. member companies 
employ more than 70,000 hardworking men and women and have played an 
invaluable role in bringing American energy to individuals, families, 
and small businesses all across our country.
  The thousands of people who work each day to bring energy to market 
are essential to the State of Louisiana and to American energy 
independence. Energy produced in the Gulf of Mexico and throughout the 
country is crucial not only here at home, but also to our friends 
around the globe. American energy exploration and production helps keep 
energy prices low for families and small businesses, provides millions 
of people with good-paying jobs, and prevents hostile foreign regimes 
from using their energy resources to harm our allies.
  Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown has hit 
energy-producing states, and the jobs and communities they support, 
especially hard. It has crushed energy demand, and a foreign price war 
earlier this year exacerbated an already dire situation. This 
combination resulted in devastating lay-offs, oil prices plummeting to 
negative for the first time in history, and billions of dollars of 
planned investments lost.
  But America's oil and gas workers are extraordinarily resilient, and 
the industry will recover from this downturn. The United States has 
vast reserves of oil and natural gas, resources that are produced here 
at home with some of the highest standards and safest technologies for 
energy exploration and production in the entire world. lADC has been, 
and will continue to be, a large part of that success.
  I applaud IADC and the women and men who work each and every day to 
bring energy to individuals and families all across our country. I 
appreciate their work to advance innovation with a focus on safety, and 
I wish IADC continued success and another fantastic 80 years.

                          ____________________