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Charlotte NC

U.S. House Votes to Ban New Offshore Drilling

September 13, 2019

North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry voted this week to ban drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast, but he voted against a bill to prohibit drilling off of the coasts of North Carolina and other Atlantic states. The votes came as U.S. House lawmakers approved bipartisan legislation Wednesday that would block new offshore drilling off the majority of the U.S. coast — despite pushback from many Republicans. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pushed for measures that would limit drilling along their own state's shorelines. With the exception of McHenry's vote on H.R. 205, however, all North Carolina representatives voted along party lines, with Democrats Alma Adams, G.K. Butterfield and David Price voting "yes" on both measures and Republicans Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, George Holding, Richard Hudson, Mark Meadows, David Rouzer and Mark Walker voting "no."