To help make America more energy secure, Senator Sessions worked closely with his Gulf state colleagues to open 8.3 million acres of land in the Gulf of Mexico to new energy exploration, the first such expansion in decades. The newly opened tract of land, which is 125 miles off the coast, contains an estimated 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The law also included a provision to share tens-of-millions of federal revenue dollars each year with Alabama to fund environmental restoration and coastal infrastructure projects.
Jeff Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama on December 24, 1946, and grew up in Hybart, the son of a country store owner. In 1964 he became an Eagle Scout and has received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. After attending school in nearby Camden, Sessions worked his way through Huntingdon College in Montgomery, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Alabama in 1973. Sessions served in the United States Army Reserve from 1973 to 1986 ultimately attaining the rank of Captain.
