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CALLING ATTENTION TO THE ENERGY CRISIS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, we are here tonight to call attention to the energy crisis that is being felt both at home and abroad.
This crisis has sent prices skyrocketing and has caused deep uncertainty that leaves our businesses vulnerable and American families less secure.
Let's be very blunt. This energy crisis is a crisis that exists for two reasons. The first reason is the recent rise in gas prices that has been caused by Vladimir Putin's unlawful war against the people of Ukraine. The second reason is President Biden's long-term refusal to support American energy producers by canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and by stopping new drilling here at home.
By threatening new and burdensome taxes on energy producers, the Biden administration has deliberately raised energy prices on all American families, all for the sake of appeasing radical environmentalists.
As we stand here today, there are untapped energy reserves under the feet of my constituents, and these can be used to address the crisis that we are talking about tonight. It is time to unleash that energy, and it is time to unleash American energy dominance.
Americans can't afford what is happening right now. Gas prices are up over 11 percent in just the last month, forcing families to make hard choices about what they can afford.
Over the course of this Special Order, you will hear from many of my colleagues about the state of our energy industry. You will hear real solutions that can help lower costs while at the same time reinforcing our necessary national security.
This is a time to talk about these real solutions. Right now, we have an incredible number of opportunities to help lower energy costs while driving innovation at the same time. Through American ingenuity, we can create millions of new family-sustaining jobs in our energy industry.
It won't be easy. It will take Congress and the administration working alongside our energy industry to reform cumbersome regulations that limit our energy production. Now is the time to give our producers the tools that they need to develop new technologies to modernize the electric grid and our oil and natural gas infrastructure and unlock new and exciting opportunities.
I thank so many of my colleagues for joining me here tonight for this important Special Order, and I yield to my colleague from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks).
Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for organizing this evening's Special Order hour.
For months now, we have seen a steady rise in energy prices, highlighted by rising prices at the gas pump. The United States imports hundreds of thousands of barrels of Russian oil every day, a slap in the face to workers and businesses across our country.
Sanctioning Russia's energy sector will cripple their economy and might be what it takes to end Russia's illegal invasion of a sovereign nation.
Today, the administration took a much-needed step and banned the import of Russian oil and gas. To help counter a lack of oil from Russia, the administration is currently requesting that dictatorships like Venezuela and Iran increase their oil and gas output instead of unleashing domestic energy production. This is unconscionable.
To support American workers and businesses, we should tap into the abundance of natural resources at home to counter high fuel costs, including Iowa-made ethanol and biofuels.
As a Presidential candidate in 2020, President Biden pledged to promote and advance renewable energy, ethanol, and other biofuels to help rural America.
Ethanol helps to extend our fuel supply, and this can help alleviate price pressure at the pump while giving access to American-made energy.
If only the Midwest States switched from E10 to E15, it would easily replace all the barrels of oil that we will no longer be importing from Russia. American ethanol producers have well over 2 billion gallons of unutilized production capacity and are standing ready to play a larger role in our energy sector.
We should continue to also grow our energy export network with our European allies and our NATO partners to help them wean off Russian energy. Biofuels, nuclear, oil, natural gas, hydro, and electric can all be part of our energy diplomacy and weaken Russia's influence in Europe.
We must take an all-of-the-above approach to our domestic energy policy, especially in the face of Russian aggression.
I will continue to fight to ensure that our energy sector continues to use oil and gas and American-made energy to end our dependence on Russia and other adversaries, diversify our energy usage, become more environmentally friendly, and create good-paying jobs here at home.
{time} 2000
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, America is hurting, with painfully high gas prices, rampant inflation for everyday goods, from groceries to clothing, and it looks like it is going to get much worse before it gets better.
How did we get here? Well, some say it was the pandemic, others say it is the war in Ukraine. Well, what if I told you this has been going on for quite a long time?
In 2017, Republicans in Congress started an investigation into Russian interference. No, not that Russian interference, but real interference into the debate over American energy.
Let me explain. The Biden administration is right now trying to distance itself from their anti-coal, anti-oil and gas actions and policies. Their war on affordable, reliable energy, blocking pipelines, slowing permits, and promoting an ill-advised rush to green.
You see, Europe tried this already, walking headlong into dangerous energy dependence on Russia. The results of that are now clearly evident. We see it playing out in the horror unfolding in Ukraine.
Europe could have taken a path of self-reliance if it wasn't for their politicians caving to radical activists to rush renewables and cutting off their own reliable energy resources like nuclear, oil, gas, and coal.
France banned fracking in 2011; Bulgaria in 2012; the Netherlands in 2015; Germany in 2017; the U.K. in 2019. All the while becoming more dependent on Putin's Russia for reliable energy.
Well, what if I told you that Russia sent at least $95 million to radical green groups in Europe who helped achieve these goals?
The investigation I mentioned earlier conducted by the Republican-led Science, Space, and Technology Committee, uncovered evidence that Russia may have done and is continuing to do the same thing right here in America.
It is time to reopen that investigation. I sent a letter today to the relevant committee chairs to do just that.
Throttling back our own American energy resources is exactly what Vladimir Putin would want us to do.
To borrow a term from the Cold War, Madam Speaker, let's not be fellow travelers with the green agenda. Let's reopen that investigation into potentially real Russian interference.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and colleague from Pennsylvania for yielding.
Madam Speaker, the Biden administration is breaking all the wrong records. Just this week, oil prices surged to a 14-year high, and gas prices topped $4 a gallon nationwide, hitting an all-time high.
Americans are spending more to heat their homes, put gas in their cars, and to run their businesses.
Yet, the Biden administration through all of this has refused to get behind American oil and natural gas producers. Instead, we are back to the days of begging OPEC and adversarial nations for oil.
America's energy needs can be achieved right here at home; a cleaner, more affordable option than importing it from Russia or other nations who don't have our best interests in mind.
President Biden is so fixated on dismantling American energy independence and imposing a radical Green New Deal that he has lost sight of what is best for the American people.
This administration's continued assault on American energy must end.
There is only one path that leads to lower energy costs and a stronger future for America. That path is American energy independence and dominance.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern).
Mr. HERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for hosting this Special Order tonight.
The price of gas has been rising for the last 14 months. Yes, we are experiencing some added pressure thanks to Putin's evil attack on Ukraine, but our energy problems go much farther back than that.
They started on the very day that President Biden was inaugurated as President. When he left the inauguration, President Biden immediately signed multiple executive orders handcuffing domestic oil production. He proudly told supporters on the campaign trail that his goal was to end fossil fuels entirely.
Now, he is saying that his administration and his rhetoric have no impact on the energy crisis. I call B.S. on that. He is intentionally destroying traditional energy while begging the world's worst actors to make up for it.
We simply cannot rely on foreign dictators for oil that we can produce here in America. An energy dominant U.S. helps not only our people, but our allies around the world.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for his leadership on this issue.
Madam Speaker, the Biden administration's war on domestic energy extends beyond canceling pipelines and infrastructure, suspending oil and natural gas leasing on Federal lands and waters, or opposing funding of construction of projects that could lower the cost of gas, diesel, or energy-derived fossil fuels and slow-walking liquified natural gas exports that could reduce Europe's dependence on Russia.
No, in fact, what most Americans do not understand is that the central feature of President Biden's anti-energy agenda is the weaponization of financial regulation to choke off capital to heroic American energy companies. And this agenda has been enabled by woke corporate leaders who have elevated a political ESG agenda ahead of returns for retail investors.
And we knew that the ESG agenda, the environmental social governance agenda, was prioritizing climate alarmism over and ahead of investor returns, over and ahead of affordable reliable energy.
But now as we see how Russia is using oil and gas exports to finance their illegal and brutal war against Ukraine, Americans can now see how the ESG agenda is compromising both American energy dominance and our national security.
The job of bank regulators is to ensure the safety and soundness of financial institutions and to promote financial stability. It is not to pick winners and losers in the credit markets or politicize the allocation of capital or solve climate change.
The central irony of the Biden administration's climate finance agenda is that it will neither promote financial stability nor help the environment.
On the contrary, it will actually destabilize the economy by destroying jobs, driving up energy costs, and severely reducing the reliability of our electric power grid.
It will also compromise efforts to combat climate change by starving innovative energy companies of the capital that they need to develop new technologies and processes to capture carbon, discover alternative uses for fossil fuels, harness the carbon cycle, and reduce emissions.
Biden's regulators say they want to assess how climate change may create risks to the financial system. But let's be honest. Biden has pledged a whole-of-government approach to ending support for fossil fuels. This is not about assessing risks for the financial system; it is about creating risks for our economy. It is about redirecting capital away from fossil energy and weaponizing regulations to discriminate against the most reliable, affordable energy we have.
The Federal Government should not be in the business of punishing heroic American energy companies, especially in a time of a national security crisis.
Unleash the power of the American innovative energy sector, not only to lower costs here at home, to restore American energy dominance, but to defend our allies in Europe to defend free people all over the country and to get rid of our overdependence on sources of energy from enemies of the United States.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).
Mr. BALDERSON. Madam Speaker, I thank my neighbor in Pennsylvania for hosting this Special Order this evening.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the importance of restoring American energy independence to combat skyrocketing prices at the pump, which just yesterday soared past all-time highs.
Last month, President Biden pledged to use every tool at our disposal to limit the effects of rising gas prices on American consumers and bolster energy supplies to our European allies.
Sadly, this commitment and the actions of this administration remain grossly misaligned.
Examples of these destructive decisions include: canceling the Keystone XL pipeline; halting new leases on Federal lands; greenlighting Russia's Nord Stream 2 project, while weakening our energy infrastructure here at home; begging OPEC to boost output and tapping into our Nation's emergency stockpile, all while refusing to take steps to boost domestic production; and proposing new punitive taxes and fees on producers.
Recently, the administration signaled its desire to increase imports from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to offset the ban on Russian energy. Stopping the flow of energy from one authoritarian regime while opening the door to others does not strengthen America's energy security.
We must recommit the United States to energy independence. We must end the war against America's energy producers. And we must protect our energy infrastructure.
I join my colleagues in calling on the Biden administration to reverse course on the failed policies that are driving up costs for consumers, weakening America's energy security, and empowering our adversaries.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse).
Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Dr. Joyce, from the great State of Pennsylvania and the HEAT Team for providing this opportunity for a Special Order because the American people need to know.
They need to know that for months the Biden administration has been using the excuse that global markets are complex and there are dynamics out of our control that have led to the highest average gas prices since 2008 and spiking oil prices around the world.
This, I want you to know, is disingenuous at best, and the reality is simply not true.
As my colleagues in the Congressional Western Caucus and the House Energy Action Team have been saying, we have the ability to achieve our own secure energy future. In fact, we achieved just that, that energy independence, just a few short years ago. But with this President and his administration at the helm, we have thrown that energy security out the window.
Don't believe the President's revisionist history of blaming Vladimir Putin for high gas prices.
You can be sure the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on Federal lands, the lack of action on the offshore leasing program, and the commitment by this President and his administration to make American energy producers obsolete in just a few short years, yes, all of those are reasons to hold this President responsible for the burden now placed on the American people.
These rising prices started long before this conflict, and we will continue to hold this administration accountable for the burden they have placed on the American people.
Again, Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Joyce; the American people need to hear this.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).
MR. BERGMAN: Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
A lot of us were here on the House floor just a few months ago highlighting the problems with the Biden administration's energy policies. We were here. We are back again.
Being here again, we are saying the same things, only maybe a little farther down the road facing another self-inflicted completely avoidable crisis.
From day one, President Biden has put America last when it comes to our energy needs. And Americans are paying for it, quite literally.
While gas prices are up all over the country, in my district we are seeing some of the highest prices in the entire State of Michigan.
And let's be clear, the administration's approach to energy has been a problem long before Russia invaded Ukraine. Gas prices have been going up for months in response to heavy inflation brought about from out-of-control spending.
House Republicans have been sounding the alarm on the national security implications of our energy dependence and the problem with relying on nations like Russia for our energy needs.
But those legitimate concerns have largely been ignored. And now we are seeing the consequences of this administration's policies.
So where is America supposed to turn for oil and gas? Instead of promoting our domestic energy industry and working to make us more independent, the administration is looking to nations like Iran and Venezuela.
How can President Biden think it is a good idea to go from one bad actor to another in search of a solution to this self-induced energy crisis?
The only way to solve our energy crisis while ensuring our national security is to break the chains this administration has put on our energy producers. It is way past time. Let's break those chains now.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time.
{time} 2015
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his insight.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), my friend and colleague.
Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I was leaving here when I met some of your family members on swearing-in day, and I know there is probably some proud chests stuck out and buttons busting everywhere, as my granddad used to say. So we welcome you in this new role.
Madam Speaker, Biden's woke environmental agenda is forcing many of my fellow East Tennesseans to pay more to heat their homes and to commute to work. How have these high energy prices increased in Tennessee over the last year, you may ask?
Gasoline costs $3.96 per gallon, a 35 percent increase--not as much as California, but that is, hopefully, never within our range.
Residential natural gas costs $12.40 per thousand cubic feet, a 23 percent increase. This is just working folks trying to heat their homes.
Electricity costs $10.27 per kilowatt hour; that is a 9 percent increase.
Madam Speaker, these higher energy costs are an additional expense for our businesses, too, and they are just going to pass it on to us. That means that businesses must raise all their prices to offset the increased energy rates. That is why this inflation is crippling our economy under President Biden.
Some of these arrogant folks suggest Americans work from home or ``go green'' to offset rising energy costs. Well, that disgusts me. That is an all-time arrogant low for some of these folks. They must assume that all my constituents have a job that allows them to work from home or can afford an electric car or solar panels.
Madam Speaker, I have spent many an hour in factories around my district, and those folks cannot work from home, and this country would fall off the edges of the Earth if we did that. And there is a reason that oil and natural gas and coal are preferred energy sources. They are cheap and they are reliable, and we get them from homegrown energy.
Now, how do we fix this energy mess? We return to energy independence, of course. It has been said many times, let's roll back some of these environmental regulations. Let's turn the spigots back on and let's lower the energy costs for the American people.
Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Joyce for his more-than-lackluster attempt at righting a horrible wrong, and I appreciate his leadership.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman and appreciate his comments.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), my colleague and friend from the Doctor's Caucus.
Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, the gentleman and good doctor from Pennsylvania for this initiative tonight, this Special Order.
Madam Speaker, amidst Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and historically high gas prices here at home, I have got a radical idea for President Joe Biden; how about you ask American workers to produce American energy sourced right here in America?
I know that is a radical idea for you, but this would increase American jobs, strengthen America's economy, and lower grocery and gas prices for all Americans. Not to mention, we would be producing some of the cleanest oil and gas in the world today.
So how do I tell my constituents the truth? The truth is this: The Biden administration would rather invest in foreign energy and make us more reliant on hostile nations and war criminals than to bring domestic production here in America back up to par.
Let me repeat that. Instead of supporting American ingenuity and affordable energy, the left wants your tax dollars to line the pockets of tyrants in Communist countries like Iran and Venezuela, who hate America and everything that we stand for. This kind of stupidity is hard to comprehend.
Tonight, I am calling on President Joe Biden to put what is best for America first for once, and immediately unleash American energy.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), my colleague and friend.
Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania.
Madam Speaker, today, Michigan's average fuel prices are mere cents away from the all-time high in the Motor State--not seen since the middle of the Great Recession. On Thursday, Triple A (AAA) data showed that Michigan had seen the highest State-wide average increase over the last week of any State in the Union.
Today, a gallon of regular unleaded gas costs 61 cents more than it did just one week prior. Diesel, which helps fuel our State's thriving agricultural industry, has increased even more.
Since this time last year, the cost of diesel is up 58 percent. In 2022, the price of natural gas is expected to reach an 8-year high. Not only does this increase families' costs to heat their homes, but it also further raises the already-inflated price of essential fertilizers that help grow Michigan crops.
Clearly, President Biden's war on American energy independence has created an energy crisis and made us more dependent on adversaries like Vladimir Putin, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The crisis continues to hit our homes, our farms, and our businesses, and it grows in severity week after week.
Recently, I sat down with some farmers in my home State. They lamented how the rising prices of energy and overall production costs is hurting their livelihoods and trickling down to Michigan consumers. The data shows the same U.S. farm income is expected to drop 8 percent this year, all while prices at the supermarket reach historic highs. If we don't unleash American energy, this cost will continue to reverberate in our agricultural industry and at Michiganders' kitchen tables for years to come.
Madam Speaker, I implore the Biden administration to take the necessary steps to increase our energy production at home. We have the capacity, we have the drive, we have the capability and tools to do so--for the sake of consumers in Michigan and around the world.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan.
Madam Speaker, one issue that needs to be addressed tonight is how the rising cost of gas disproportionately affects rural Americans who drive longer miles to get to work, to get to the grocery store, even to get to their kids' schools.
Today, the average cost for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania is $4.23 a gallon. And now it is estimated that the average family will pay an extra $1,300 for gas this year alone. It is unaffordable. And it is time to unleash American oil drilling to help bring the prices down and once again establish American energy dominance.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), my friend.
Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, look at what is happening right now. We are dependent upon foreign sources of energy from volatile places around the world. We are bringing in energy from African nations. We have recently brought in energy from Venezuela, from Russia, from Iraq.
Madam Speaker, we have these resources in the United States. The President stood in this very room and talked about buying American. Why can't we buy our own American energy?
Tonight and tomorrow, we are going to be talking about banning Russian oil. Well, I welcome folks to this discussion. We have been trying to do this for years. And unfortunately, my friends on the other side of the aisle have opposed our efforts, have opposed efforts to ban Russian oil.
You can look at history. Whenever you stop producing in the United States, it doesn't change demand. All it does is it causes you to get the energy from somewhere else. This is affecting people all across America.
As a result of President Biden's strategies, as a result of Democrats impeding good policy, we are now to a point where we have the highest gasoline prices in American history. We watched under President Biden where we nearly tripled our dependence upon Russian crude oil--nearly tripled it.
Madam Speaker, it has greater emissions. They have greater environmental impacts. And again, why can't we buy America's resources? These are flawed energy strategies that are impacting those people the most that can least afford it.
``Buying American,'' we support that term. We support American energy. We support putting Americans back to work.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes), my colleague and friend.
Mr. ESTES. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for hosting this Special Order.
Madam Speaker, for the past year, we have seen policies from the Biden administration devastate families and small businesses across the country. Moms in my district, like Meghan, have seen the cost of filling up their tanks and heating their homes continue to climb.
The average American family will spend an extra $1,300 in gas this year. And Biden's Green New Deal energy policies have left us weak abroad and crushed us economically at home. The national average for a gallon of gasoline is now $4.17--the highest ever on record. There is nothing to stop that number from going even higher as we head into the summer.
But the prices at the pump today are not the result of just the recent events in Eastern Europe. If we look at gas prices on January 21, 2021, just one day after President Biden took office, the national average was $2.40.
One year later, on January 20, 2022--before Putin ruthlessly invaded Ukraine--the national average was already $3.33. President Biden and the Congressional Democrats are solely responsible for the year-over-
year increase. And the anti-American energy agenda prevented the United States from maintaining our energy independence at a critical moment in history.
That is why it is so important that we have good, permanent policies in place that encourage production here at home, keeping our prices low for American families and small businesses, and ensure that we maintain stability when bad actors disrupt the world.
We should buy American first. We should buy American oil first. When the United States isn't reliant on foreign oil, we can better address the global threats of tyrants and dictators.
Madam Speaker, it is time we prioritize American energy production again that will put American families first and keep our country safe.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kansas.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), the energy-rich Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Mr. MEUSER. Madam Speaker, I thank my very good friend, Dr. John Joyce from Pennsylvania.
Madam Speaker, we are witnessing horrible brutality by Vladimir Putin. He is killing civilians and committing war crimes while Zelensky has ordered his troops to ``not cross the line between humanity and animals.''
Zelensky requested aircraft, military supplies, and for credit card processing to be cut off. Mastercard and Visa stepped up and cut off their services the day that he asked, on Saturday. And I hope the aircraft is on its way, as was planned. He also asked for the U.S. to impose an embargo on Russian oil. Finally, the Biden administration is taking this important step.
Madam Speaker, 14 months ago, this would have been a simple ask as we, the United States, were in fact energy independent. Because of the Biden administration's reckless anti-domestic fuel energy policies, it is far more complicated. At a time when we should be ramping up domestic production, the Biden administration is sending officials to Venezuela and Iran in a desperate attempt to buy oil from these rogue nations.
The historic gas prices we are all facing are a direct result of the Biden administration's foolish domestic energy policy. Producing oil and gas here at home doesn't just keep prices low but serves as a strategic global advantage.
Madam Speaker, regarding Ukraine, we must lay out our own terms to Putin: Get out of Ukraine or be subject to war crimes and every crippling sanction imaginable, as well as to fortify the Ukrainians.
This war is about tyranny versus freedom, oppression versus liberty, totalitarianism versus democracy, and injustice versus justice. The rest of the world is watching. This is a pivotal moment. Glory to Ukraine.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for his remarks.
Madam Speaker, right now, our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine and their fight against Putin's unlawful war. Refusing to buy Russian oil will go a long way towards showing Putin and his corrupt Russian oligarchs that they will pay a steep price for this war.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the State of Minnesota
(Mr. Stauber), my colleague and friend.
Mr. STAUBER. Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Joyce for holding this Special Order.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss how high energy prices due to choices made by Joe Biden and his administration are placing an undue burden on Americans and how it doesn't have to be this way.
On his very first day in office, President Biden made a conscious choice to declare war on American energy.
{time} 2030
As the ranking member of the Energy and Mineral Resources Committee, I know that it does not have to be this way. One year later it is clear to every American that canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and halting leases on Federal lands were devastating for the American people.
Today, gas prices nationwide are averaging over $4 a gallon. Instead of ending hostility to American energy, Joe Biden is choosing foreign energy sources to lower prices in America. Folks, there is a better way. We need to return to American energy independence. Our blue-
collar, middle-class workers are ready, willing, and able to help us achieve this.
America should never rely on foreign nations for our energy security, and we can be the source for our allies instead of reliance on adversarial nations like Russia. One way to speed up our return to energy dominance is to enact meaningful permitting reform to remove red tape and duplicative processes to speed up domestic production.
Do not buy the press secretary's rhetoric. Even if a company has a lease, the administration slow-walks every right-of-way, every approval, and every permit. From an administration that claims to care about Tribal consultation, they sure disregarded an indigenous voice in Mayor Harry Brower and the North Slope Borough when it comes to the Willow Project in Alaska.
Madam Speaker, I urge the administration and my colleagues across the aisle to join us on permitting reform. Energy security is national security. The war in Ukraine has made this clearer than ever before. We cannot wait any longer to return to American energy dominance.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his excellent remarks.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud), my colleague and friend.
Mr. CLOUD. Madam Speaker, I am here to let you know that the people of Texas stand ready. I represent the 27th District of Texas which includes a number of ports including the Port of Corpus Christi, our Nation's number one energy export port.
Texans stand ready to help American families struggling with inflation, including high gas prices. We stand ready to help ensure that Europe is not beholden to tyrants for their energy supply. We stand ready to help restore our economy and support the energy byproducts like fertilizer, pesticides, and even tractor tires that help produce our food supply.
How insulting and arrogant it is for the American worker that the Biden administration would rather go to dictators to fill the energy vacuum than the American people, in spite of the fact that the American workers produce energy much more clean and responsibly than these other nations.
To the casual observer this may seem like a tragic miscalculation. In 2017, as Vice President Biden said, ironically, in a speech he gave in the Ukraine, he said this: We are trying to create a multipolar world. In other words, he envisioned a world where the United States was not the premiere influence in the world. Well, tragically, that is the world we see forming before us day-by-day in the news.
Madam Speaker, I have no idea what the carbon footprint of a missile going into a Ukrainian's home is, but I do know that the human toll is tragic, and that it is the result in part of acceding American energy dominance.
We must stop in this Nation selling away generations of progress made by American workers and innovators and restore American energy dominance.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice), my friend and colleague.
Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, the anti-energy policies of the Biden administration have targeted oil and gas production and eliminated American energy independence. Since day one, the Biden administration has embarked on an agenda of regulatory overreach.
Something you might have heard from the White House press secretary recently is that there are 9,000 untapped drilling permits that companies are not using. While this is in part true, they are being dishonest and purposefully leaving out crucial context and factors that cause companies to wait to drill those wells.
For starters, many of the wells produced predominantly natural gas, not oil. In addition, drilling can't begin overnight as leases can take months or years before companies actively drill.
Furthermore, the Federal permit to drill is not the only government approval required. Rights-of-way can take years to acquire before companies can access leases. Most companies cannot drill before pipelines are in place, and the delayed approvals have resulted in companies developing drilling access at much slower rates.
This administration is taking up to three times the amount of time to approve Federal permits than the Trump administration, and that is if they approve them at all. The American people are tired of the Democrats' blame-shifting while they ignore the real causes of crushing gas prices.
We must unleash American energy and lower gas prices domestically. In addition, restoring American production will remove Putin's control of the energy market and end his leverage over Europe.
To solve the crisis, President Biden must immediately end the Federal freeze on all new oil and gas projects, fast-track pending LNG export permits, expedite approval of all pipeline and energy development, and stop the regulatory assault on American energy development and financing.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Oklahoma.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jacobs), my colleague and friend.
Mr. JACOBS of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Joyce for holding this very important event today.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the millions of Americans who are facing pain at the pump and around the Nation. On his first day in office, President Biden signaled to the world that American energy independence was no longer a priority. He canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on day one. He made regulatory changes to make new domestic production incredibly punitive. He put a moratorium on all new drilling on Federal lands.
The President's actions set the high prices we are seeing today in motion. Long before Russia invaded Ukraine, Americans were getting squeezed by the inflationary tax caused by careless and unrealistic policymaking. In fact, the national average for a gallon of gasoline had risen over a dollar in the year before Russia took this malign action.
International events have sent prices higher in the past week, but the administration cannot hide from the fact that their policies have amplified this financial crisis. The solution to this crisis is clear--
American production and energy independence are the best protections we have at our disposal.
The President must reverse the course of his administration immediately and allow the full force of the U.S. energy industry to be unleashed in Americans' time of need.
Banning Russian oil imports out of principle is one thing, but it rings of hypocrisy when the administration turns around and immediately begins negotiating with vile dictators in Iran and Venezuela. The solution is no better there, and simply expands our dependence on hostile foreign nations for our economic and national security.
Madam Speaker, perhaps the administration does not want to admit their early anti-energy moves were wrong, but American energy and financial security cannot hinge on the egos of the President and his staff.
It is time to get out of the way of American production, allow our producers to increase capacity, and deliver affordable energy to the American people free from malign influence. Our future prosperity and national security depends on it.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York. One thing is abundantly clear from the speakers tonight, there is a growing need to utilize American innovation. Americans and our know-how have always stepped up and bend the individuals who can get us through crises.
Yet, we are not utilizing the resources that are under the feet of Americans. American ingenuity is the answer. American businesses have already cut our energy emissions by more than any other country over the past 20 years. We were able to do this because of new and innovative technologies that our American businesses produced.
The answer is clear: we need to bring more American technologies to market as soon as possible. That message has been reiterated by my colleagues throughout tonight's Special Order.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my colleague and friend.
Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I am still trying to figure out what the priorities of this Biden administration are. When you look at the different world events going on--when John Kerry comes out and says: Oh, we hope this Ukraine intervention does not interfere with the progress the U.S. is making with Mr. Putin on climate change--you wonder what are the priorities?
Indeed, I would have to remind you that if CO2 is a priority of this administration, the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it represents only .04 percent of our atmosphere. You see all the other gases in our atmosphere are represented by much larger percentages.
If indeed John Kerry and this administration's big priority is CO2, what are they doing to help remedy that for the energy this country needs? Well, my home State of California it shutting down both nuclear power plants that we had at one time in the State, Santa Onofre first and Diablo Canyon coming up pretty soon.
It is tearing up hydroelectric dams, like up in my district, on the Klamath River; both of those provide CO2-free electricity, if CO2 indeed is the big priority. No, it is something else. It is some other agenda. They are not doing much to help. If we had more nuclear power plants in this country, we wouldn't have the fuel for them.
We produce only 9,000 pounds of uranium, yet our needs in this country for our power plants, military ships, and even medical is about 45 million pounds. That is 9,000 versus 45 million. It doesn't seem to be the priority of this administration to have America's needs, the people of this country's needs, our energy independence when you look at just the production of electricity, let alone oil and gas, which are so critical for everyday needs for everyday Americans.
We need to really focus on what this country needs and we need to help steer this administration into that focus instead of the fruitless direction we are going.
Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his excellent remarks. I would like to thank all the Members who have been here tonight. When I proposed holding this Special Order, we received an overwhelming response. Perhaps that is exemplified by the number of Members who stayed late into the evening to discuss the energy crisis that right now is affecting every American.
This truly shows the commitment that congressional Republicans have to working to revitalize American energy dominance. It is a testament to how important this issue is. We truly have been able to discuss the issues that have dreadful effects on so many American families right now, this evening. This energy crisis that President Biden created is impactful tonight, tomorrow, and until we use American innovation to respond correctly.
Madam Speaker, what we have shown here tonight is a road map back to American energy dominance.
It is a plan to increase innovation. It is a plan to rebuild our energy grid. It is a plan to cut harmful regulations and a plan to ensure that the American people have safe, reliable, and affordable energy.
So, once again, Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for their remarks, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 41
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