[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 113 (Thursday, June 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3095-S3097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN ENERGY INNOVATION ACT

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, on Tuesday, just a few days ago, I 
convened a hearing of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and 
we were focused on the impacts of COVID-19 and how this pandemic has 
impacted our Nation's energy industry. We had a lot of discussions 
about the impact of COVID on the Nation, on our economy, and I think it 
is probably fair to say that every facet of our society has been 
impacted, but it is certainly clear to me as a Senator for the State of 
Alaska and as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
that the energy sector has suffered perhaps uniquely and I think 
acutely.

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  We have seen limits on business and travel and social activities, and 
we think about those limitations, the far-reaching consequences they 
have on our Nation's energy producers, whether it is those who produce 
oil and gas, coal, renewables, advanced technology such as nuclear 
power, and all those who help us produce our energy and use our energy 
more efficiently, all aspects have been impacted.
  At the hearing, we had some pretty good testimony that our witnesses 
were able to explain and quantify some of those impacts. We heard that 
U.S. oil production has declined by almost 2 million barrels per day. 
Spot prices for liquefied natural gas have effectively collapsed, 
creating challenges for export projects. Domestic electricity 
consumption is projected to decline by 5.7 percent this year, largely 
due to the closure of businesses and, of course, the shelter-in-place 
orders.
  It is not just the oil and gas sector. The renewable energy sector 
has also faced substantial supply chain disruptions. The efficiency 
sector has faced health and safety restrictions in homes and buildings. 
Overall, we were told that the energy industry has lost an estimated 
1.3 million jobs since early March, including more than 600,000 jobs 
associated with clean energy.
  It is a good reminder in terms of where we have seen this direct 
impact and the impact on jobs, but our hearing was also a reminder that 
the energy industry can be a key leader, be a sector that can really 
help lead our Nation's economic recovery.
  When you think about energy itself, this is a finished product. It is 
a feedstock. It is a raw material. It is an input. It is an output. It 
is value added, a natural resource, tradeable commodity, a precious 
asset. It is clearly critical infrastructure and emergency reserves. It 
is financial, collateral, and competitive exports. It is a source of 
high-paying and high-skilled jobs in its own right.
  I think we recognize that current low prices are good for us. We are 
seeing our families pay less and, thus, they can devote to other 
priorities. The underlying message here is the energy industry is an 
important component to how we move to this phase of economic recovery. 
What can we do to help this industry and, thus, the broader economy 
recovery?
  It was interesting because we had a panel of five witnesses before 
us. Several of those witnesses all pointed to the same piece of 
legislation as one of the answers as to how we can help the economy 
recover, and that is a bill that those of us on the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee developed throughout last year. We called it the 
American Energy Innovation Act. We refer to it as our energy bill. It 
will ensure that the United States remains a global energy leader while 
strengthening our national security, investing in clean technologies, 
and securing our Nation's supply chain.
  It is a pretty wide-ranging bill. It covers everything from energy 
efficiency to renewables. We have a strong focus on carbon capture. The 
big anchor piece is energy storage. Advanced nuclear plays a key role 
and also vehicle technologies. We focused on mineral security and 
recognizing the key aspects of secure supply chains, grid and cyber 
security, workforce modernization. Really, it is all areas that will 
work to help our economy, boost our international competitiveness, and 
protect human health and the global environment.
  At the hearing on Tuesday, one of our witnesses described this energy 
bill, our American Energy Innovation Act, as ``foundational.'' I really 
think it is foundational.
  Where are we with this foundational energy bill that has been the 
work of such a good, strong collaborative committee process? It was 
clearly timely for the Senate to be considering this in this year--
certainly before the pandemic--and it is even more critical, more 
timely that we consider it now.
  When we had an opportunity to bring this to the floor earlier, there 
was a desire and an interest in making sure that we were focusing on 
our clean and renewable energy sector. We do that within that bill.
  It has been interesting because in the past several weeks, we have 
heard calls from Members of this body to prioritize a robust clean 
energy recovery plan. There was a letter from 24 Members of the Senate 
who urged Senate leadership to ``prioritize a robust clean energy 
recovery plan.'' In their letter, they call for investments in 
renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, 
clean and efficient infrastructure, clean fuels, and workforce 
development. That sounds pretty much like what we included within our 
American Energy Innovation Act.
  I sent many of them just a quick letter detailing how our bill really 
does accomplish just that, including the specifics that focus on each 
of these priorities, and encourage them to help me pass it.
  As you may recall, we had the American Energy Innovation Act on the 
Senate floor at the end of February just before the pandemic took hold. 
Again, I mentioned the collaborative process that went into building 
that bill. We spent a lot of time in the Energy Committee working 
through a lot of the issues that had some conflict and to reduce that 
conflict so we could get a good, strong bipartisan product. As a 
consequence, we have a bill that contains the priorities for more than 
70 Senators. It is supported by more than 200 organizations. We 
incorporated 18 amendments on the floor working through that process.
  The Senate ultimately denied cloture on March 9. This was just before 
the shelter in place and the work from home orders began. We hit a wall 
there. The unfortunate reality is we hit that wall. We were derailed 
with this important legislative effort not because of an impasse that 
we had with the contents of our bill, but it was an unrelated dispute 
from another committee. It was not something that, as chairman, I could 
have anticipated. There was no warning that it was going to be an issue 
for our bill. In fairness, we didn't have any power as the Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee to work it out for this other committee. We 
were hamstrung by it.
  Effectively, what happened then was a year of good, strong committee 
work by the Energy Committee is now being held hostage in a fight in 
another committee. I have been patient with this, but I would remind 
colleagues that we are not getting any more extra legislative days 
being added. The clock is ticking here. This is a matter that, again, 
when this came before us while we were on this floor trying to work out 
the last of the amendments, this came up at the last minute, and we 
were promised a resolution at that time. We will have this fixed in a 
month. Well, it has been over 3 months now since this became an issue. 
Again, we have lost valuable time.
  This issue from the EPW Committee is holding back a strong, 
bipartisan bill that would allow us to modernize our Nation's energy 
policies for the first time in more than a dozen years.
  In a week where I have certainly been reminded about the importance 
of energy and, again, heard good, strong support for our energy bill, I 
would tell my colleagues that we need to redouble our efforts on this 
to advance this bill. We need to unlock this energy bill, which is a 
good bill that is ready to go, from the complications that have been 
created within another committee.
  I like to pride myself on being a pretty good team player around 
here. I want to give people space to work their issues out, but I think 
it is time, again, for those who are able to hold the key to this to 
help us unlock this so we can move a significant priority--not just for 
the Energy and Natural Resources Committee but a significant priority 
for every Member in this Chamber because it doesn't make any difference 
if you are a Republican or a Democrat, if you come from an urban area 
or a rural area, when it comes to the strength of our Nation's economy, 
the foundational interest here, the foundations rest solidly on energy.
  So an opportunity to update and modernize our energy policies in a 
way that benefits us all is something that I would hope we can all 
agree to. I want to get this bill moving.
  We had a win this week that originated in the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee when it comes to some of our land and conservation 
measures. The Great American Outdoors Act passed by a strong margin. It 
was the work of a lot of good people, but both measures, the Land and 
Water Conservation Fund, as well as the Restore Our Parks Act, began 
with the

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good work of a committee working together to move those pieces of 
legislation through the committee process. It is not perfect, in my 
view, but I knew these were good policies that many Members across both 
sides of the aisle wanted to place a priority on.
  Let's figure out how we can make something like that happen. I am 
proud of the fact that we can move good initiatives through this 
committee.
  I will just remind you we have another good initiative that we are 
ready to go on

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