This was a vote on a resolution setting a time limit for debate and determining which amendments could be offered to legislation requiring the Secretary of the Interior to approve or deny offshore oil drilling leases within 30 days of receiving an application, as well as a separate bill requiring the Secretary of the Interior to conduct oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off Virginia’s coast that had been cancelled or delayed by the Obama administration.

Following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the Obama administration imposed an offshore drilling moratorium. The administration lifted that moratorium, however, in May 2010. Despite lifting the moratorium, however, Republicans argued that the administration had been too slow in approving leases for drilling, and contributed to high gasoline prices. The Obama administration (and many congressional Democrats) countered that it was seeking to improve drilling safety in order to prevent another oil spill disaster.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) urged support for the resolution and the underlying bills: “H.R. 1229 is a bill that goes to the heart of the bureaucratic delays, which are preventing the approval of drilling permits within the Gulf of Mexico; and it modifies the standards and procedures governing federal leases and permits in order to streamline the process, making the development of these domestic resources a reality instead of the status quo of paying lip service to drilling and then stifling drilling through bureaucratic inaction. H.R. 1230 is a bill that would direct the sale of oil and gas leases within the Outer Continental Shelf, reversing a failed administration policy of canceling and delaying those processes.”

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) opposed the resolution and the underlying bills: “We know that Big Oil would rather do without the fuss of showing that they can drill safely; but that's what this bill, in fact, delivers. This legislation states that the Interior Secretary must act on any drilling permit within 60 days, or it's automatically approved. What should be a very serious process to ensure safe drilling, to ensure that there aren't further disasters, and to ensure that jobs are not destroyed turns into little more than a rubber stamp, a rubber stamp for the further degradation of our economy and of our environment….Together, these bills will not relieve pain at the pump, but they will increase the chances of another Deepwater Horizon disaster, costing lives, livelihoods, and hurting some of our precious natural resources. Why? Because that's what Big Oil wants.”

The House agreed to this resolution by a vote of 245-167. All 234 Republicans and 11 Democrats voted “yea.” 167 Democrats voted “nay.” As a result, the House proceeded to formal floor debate on legislation requiring the Secretary of the Interior to approve or deny offshore oil drilling leases within 30 days of receiving an application, as well as on a separate bill requiring the Secretary of the Interior to conduct oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off Virginia’s coast that had been cancelled or delayed by the Obama administration.