[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 167 (Thursday, November 21, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FEDERAL LANDS JOBS AND ENERGY SECURITY ACT

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 19, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1965) to 
     streamline and ensure onshore energy permitting, provide for 
     onshore leasing certainty, and give certainty to oil shale 
     development for American energy security, economic 
     development, and job creation, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1965, a 
bill that would unnecessarily and irresponsibly give away public lands 
to Big Oil, even as U.S. oil production is at a 24-year high and the 
oil industry receives billions of dollars in tax breaks per year.
  H.R. 1965 would remove the safeguards that protect taxpayers and 
public lands by requiring the Interior Department to grant leases on 25 
percent of the land requested by oil companies every year and imposing 
strict deadlines on application review, automatically approving leases 
after just 60 days even if safety and environmental reviews are not yet 
complete. It would also enact barriers to public review--if a community 
wanted to challenge a leasing decision, it would have to pay a $5,000 
fee to be heard. If a case took more than 60 days to adjudicate, it 
would be automatically denied.
  Mr. Chairman, under this Administration, domestic oil production has 
increased by 35 percent on Western public and Indian lands. Oil and gas 
companies are currently only developing about a third of the public 
lands they already lease. This bill, which would prioritize energy 
production over hunting, fishing, grazing, conservation, and every 
other use of public lands, will not reduce energy prices or increase 
energy security. It would simply cede control of natural resources held 
in public trust to already-profitable big oil companies. I urge a no 
vote.

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