[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Clean Power Plan

  Madam President, on another matter, the previous administration left 
a sprawling mess of regulation tangled throughout the Federal 
Government and the U.S. economy.
  Sweeping leftwing visions were dreamt up here in Washington and 
forced on farm families, domestic manufacturers, and small businesses 
throughout the country with there being very little regard for the 
consequences. The reach of regulators grew longer and longer, and the 
burden on American prosperity became heavier and heavier. So, 
naturally, rolling back much of this mess and putting Washington back 
in its place has been a major priority for the Republicans in Congress 
as well as for the Trump administration.
  Yet some actions were so egregious and so likely illegal that the 
courts put a halt to them before we could even reform or repeal them. 
As my colleagues recall, the implementation of the so-called Clean 
Power Plan was frozen by a Supreme Court stay more than 3 years ago, 
back in 2016.
  The Obama administration's War on Coal has already done plenty of 
damage in places like my home State of Kentucky, but at least this 
additional hammer blow on so many Americans' livelihoods was held off. 
It would have weaponized a Federal agency to bury energy producers and 
all of those who depend on them under one-size-fits-all regulations 
with duplicative mandates and unrealistic timelines. Also, as the 
production of the most affordable and reliable energy available to 
American families would have dried up, it would have left higher 
electricity costs in its wake.
  Higher domestic power prices would have meant fewer American jobs 
here at home with there having been no meaningful effect on global 
emissions. Any rational observer would have concluded that this 
regulation would have been all pain for no gain--just good American 
jobs having been shipped overseas.
  This was a bad idea that many of us here in the Senate fought tooth 
and nail. Back in 2013 and 2014, after President Obama's EPA 
Administrator refused my request to come meet with Kentuckians, I held 
hearings in Kentucky about the negative impacts the plan would have 
actually had. I worked with Governors to hold off on its 
implementation. I helped to spearhead an amicus brief in the legal 
proceedings and led on legislation to overturn the rule.
  So unwinding this proposed economic self-sabotage and sticking up for 
working families has been a top priority of mine and of many of my 
colleagues for years. Fortunately, it has also been a major priority 
for the Trump administration. Last year, it announced a proposed rule 
to do away with it, and, later today, the EPA will be finalizing it and 
making it official. I look forward to the administration's rolling out 
a new policy that upholds the rule of law, keeps the EPA within its 
statutory role, and encourages American energy reliability and 
affordability.
  This is just one more win for all Americans who live and work in 
communities where affordable, homegrown American energy sources like 
coal still matter a great deal. It is another win for States like 
Kentucky. It is nice to have an administration that isn't narrowly 
focused on just big, blue, urban areas but that looks out for all of 
our country.