introduced H.R. 6068, the Preserving Recreation, Oceans, Tourism, Environment, and Coastal Towns in (PROTECT) Florida Act, to prevent drilling off Florida’s coast. This bipartisan legislation codifies President Trump’s moratorium on oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration in federal waters off the coast of Florida until 2032.
Will protect Florida's coastline from offshore drilling by codifying a moratorium on oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration in federal waters off Florida until 2032.
Occurrences
Evidence
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To provide for a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and exploration on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida until 2032... Introduced in House (11/17/2025)... referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
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Rutherford (FL-05) introduced H.R. 6068... This bipartisan legislation codifies President Trump’s moratorium on oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration in federal waters off the coast of Florida until 2032.
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Sponsor: Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-5] (Introduced 11/03/2023)... Latest Action: House - 11/03/2023 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources... This bill prohibits oil and gas exploration and leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf in certain areas off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
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By Mr. RUTHERFORD: H.R. 6212... The single subject of this legislation is: Prevent oil and gas drilling and exploration, from occurring off the coast of Florida through 2032.
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This legislation codifies the moratorium on oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration in federal waters off the coast of Florida until 2032.
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Congress.gov still lists H.R. 6068 as introduced and referred to House Natural Resources, with no later floor or enactment action shown.
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The bill text matches the promise: it would impose a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and exploration off Florida through 2032.
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Congress.gov lists Rutherford as sponsor, the bill as introduced on 11/17/2025, and the latest action as referral to the House Committee on Natural Resources; the tracker remains at Introduced, not Became Law.
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The introduced bill would extend the Gulf Coast moratorium to 2032 and bar oil and gas leasing, preleasing, related activity including seismic testing, and oil and gas exploration permits off Florida through June 30, 2032.
Assessments
Rutherford introduced H.R. 6212 in the 118th Congress and H.R. 6068 in the 119th Congress, both matching the promise to codify a Florida offshore oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration moratorium through 2032. However, the official status for H.R. 6068 remains only introduced and referred to the House Natural Resources Committee, with no passage or enactment, so the promised codified moratorium has not been delivered. The introduced legislation is a serious same-term federal legislative attempt, so effort credit applies.
Rutherford repeatedly introduced legislation to codify a Florida offshore-drilling moratorium through 2032, including H.R. 6212 and H.R. 6068, but the available congressional records show only introduction and referral to committee with no enactment. That is serious legislative effort, but the promised policy outcome was not delivered.
Rutherford materially acted on the promise by introducing matching legislation in the 118th Congress (H.R. 6212) and again in the 119th Congress (H.R. 6068) to codify a moratorium on offshore oil and gas leasing, seismic testing, and exploration off Florida through 2032. However, the evidence only shows introduction and committee referral, not enactment into federal law. Because the promised outcome was to protect the coastline by codifying the moratorium, and codification has not been shown to have occurred, the promise was not delivered. Under the rubric, a serious legislative attempt that failed counts as never with effort credit.