[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 168 (Monday, September 27, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5454-H5460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   BIDEN'S ASSAULT ON AMERICAN ENERGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Bush). 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 that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit 
extraneous materials.
  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 as 
members of the House Energy Action Team to discuss the Biden 
administration's assault on American energy.
  His policies have hurt our constituents, and tonight, members of the 
HEAT team will talk about how these actions continue to harm their 
districts. The last 9 months have painted a portrait of what the Biden 
administration's energy policies mean for our country.
  Madam Speaker, it is not a pretty picture. As we speak, Biden's 
allies in Congress intend to pass their $3.5 trillion budget 
reconciliation package, only making this situation worse.
  Let's take the natural gas tax, for example. It will increase 
everyday Americans' bills by hundreds of dollars and destroy hundreds 
of thousands of American family-sustaining jobs. This will rob 
opportunity from the very communities that I represent in Pennsylvania 
and hundreds of towns just like this. And we will hear more about that 
this evening.
  This tax is a solution in search of a problem, and it is creating 
that problem. The United States has led the world in reducing 
greenhouse emissions in the last two decades, and the energy industry 
is voluntarily reducing methane emissions.
  Innovation is the ultimate answer to cutting emissions, and we cannot 
afford to stifle advancement. As a Nation, we cannot tax our way to a 
cleaner environment. And Americans are fed up with taxes. The biggest 
tax that our citizens are now facing is inflation. Across the board, 
prices are rising.
  The energy sector is particularly worrisome with gas prices climbing 
63 percent in my home State of Pennsylvania. This cost falls 
disproportionately on low-income Americans. It is not fair for them to 
foot the bill for the policy preferences of liberal coastal elites.
  Let's take another example of the Biden administration's war on 
American industry. In their attempts to enact provisions of the Green 
New Deal, they have smothered American innovation. For years, our 
Nation has been at the cutting edge in nearly every sector of the 
economy. From cyberspace to advances in manufacturing, America has 
always stayed one step ahead of its competition. But that is starting 
to change.
  American researchers and developers have always been able to count on 
the access to the resources needed to manufacture new pioneering 
products. But a rising China threatens that access.
  Of the 35 essential minerals listed for the U.S. economic and 
national security, China is the top producer or top supplier of 23 of 
them. China controls the production of 80 percent of rare earth 
elements, 70 percent of graphite, almost 60 percent of lithium, and 
almost 60 percent of vanadium, and 36 percent of cobalt.
  Products like batteries and semiconductors that are needed in the 
liberals' remaking of America require large amounts of these rare earth 
elements.
  The good news is we have them, right here within our borders. The bad 
news is that under the Biden administration's burdensome regulations, 
companies are unable to mine these very elements that are under the 
ground that we stand on. We need to unshackle the American worker and 
allow businesses to extract these minerals so that we can make the 
products of the future right here at home instead of relying on foreign 
rivals.
  As the last 9 months have clearly shown, these policies are not the 
right way forward. Congress must continue to embrace the bottom-up 
innovation that will result in leaps in efficiency far greater than any 
mandate--instead of expensive taxes that will take money out of working 
Americans' pockets.
  We have a great group of colleagues here tonight from the House 
Energy Action Team to talk about how their communities are being 
affected by this administration.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).
  Mr. BALDERSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the Biden 
administration's attack on American energy production.
  Last month, as America faced 40 percent higher prices at the pump as 
a result of his failed policies, President Biden found himself begging 
OPEC to open the valve to alleviate the pinch of skyrocketing prices. 
To no one's surprise, OPEC refused.
  Earlier this year, in a baffling sequence of events on his very first 
day in office, President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline 
project, eliminating 11,000 U.S. energy jobs here at home.

                              {time}  2015

  And then he gave a green light to Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline 
across Europe. Perhaps most appalling is that the Nord Stream 2 
decision was made in the wake of Russian hackers shutting down the 
Colonial Pipeline, affecting tens of millions of American up and down 
the East coast.
  These misguided policy decisions by the Biden administration have 
caused irreparable harm, not just to the U.S., but also to our European 
allies who are growing increasingly weary of how the Kremlin may use 
its newfound grasp on the region's energy supplies to advance their 
geopolitical influence.
  Destroying American energy production under the false pretense that 
doing so is somehow saving the environment is nothing more than a 
mismatch of problems and solutions. It is a disastrous display of 
virtue-signaling.
  Meanwhile, in the midst of soaring inflation, American taxpayers are 
the ones left paying the price, robbed of both reliable energy options 
and their hard-earned money.
  Madam Speaker, the Biden administration's policies are damaging 
American energy independence and security. We must reverse course and 
return to a path of American energy leadership, not foreign reliance.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Balderson.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).
  Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
  Madam Speaker, last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration 
reported that Russia is now the number two oil importer to the U.S.--
let that sink in--behind only Canada. Russian oil imports increased by 
23 percent in May to nearly 850,000 barrels a day from the previous 
month.
  Up until the Biden administration took over, we were energy secure 
and no longer dependent upon Middle East oil. Now President Biden is 
asking

[[Page H5455]]

OPEC to pump more oil while he shuts down domestic production, putting 
America last.
  The message is clear, President Biden is pro-Russia and OPEC energy, 
but anti-American energy. He is pro-Russian pipelines, but anti-
American pipelines.
  In January, President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline. He 
then withdrew sanctions the Trump administration put in place, enabling 
Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline to transfer natural gas to Germany 
without navigating its way through Ukraine.
  We know pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to transport 
energy products. Even Energy Secretary Granholm admitted this in the 
wake of the Colonial cyberattack. And yet, we are witnessing attacks 
from the left on energy infrastructure in every corner of the Nation.
  In Michigan, Governor Whitmer has ordered the shutdown of Line 5, 
despite it earning all of the necessary permits and environmental 
reviews at both the State and the Federal level.
  Line 5 carries 540,000 barrels a day of crude oil and natural gas and 
serves more than 50 percent of Michigan's propane needs. Shutting it 
down would threaten thousands of jobs, billions in economic output, and 
the safe supply of resources necessary to meet Michigan families' most 
basic needs.
  Make no mistake: there are consequences to these actions. We saw what 
happened earlier this year when just one pipeline shut down. What will 
happen when Democrats shut down all of the pipelines, ban oil and 
natural gas, and make us 100 percent dependent on renewables sourced 
from China? This is a stark vision for our future, and even more so for 
our grandchildren's future.
  So I would ask my Democratic colleagues to stop placating the radical 
green lobby, and instead, work with us in a bipartisan manner to 
develop real, long-term solutions that deploy more clean energy and 
reduce emissions through innovation and technology. This all makes 
sense, and it is American.
  American ingenuity during the shale revolution enabled us to become 
the world's energy leader. We must not surrender this role to 
adversaries by hamstringing ourselves with Green New Deal mandates that 
make no sense, will not work, and that will devastate our great Nation 
while doing nothing, nothing to improve our global air quality.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Michigan for his candor.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Burchett), my friend.
  Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Joyce for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, take a look at the average cost of a gallon of 
gasoline. When President Biden took office, a gallon of gasoline was 
$2.38 a gallon. Today, that number is $3.18, an increase of 33.6 
percent. 33.6 percent, Madam Speaker. It wasn't too long ago Americans 
could fill up their tanks for a little over $2 a gallon.
  President Biden's attacks on reliable fossil fuel sources are hitting 
middle class Americans directly in their wallets. Inflating gas prices 
are a tax on working Americans when they go to the pump for their 
commute to work or a vacation with their families.
  And it is nothing short of hypocrisy, Madam Speaker, that President 
Biden has tried to close Federal lands for drilling but lifted 
sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Russia is allowed to 
utilize its own domestic energy resources, but our country is not. Let 
that sink in.
  President Biden's solution to energy problems he created is to push 
unproven renewable technology on Americans. This includes solar panels, 
which are celebrated by the far left as the future of renewable energy. 
But there is a dark secret to solar panels, Madam Speaker. Over half of 
the world's polysilicon, a crucial material in solar panel production, 
is mined using Uighur slave labor in China's Xinjiang Province.
  Forget the outrageous cost of one of these solar panels. Exploiting 
slave labor to charge your electric car or power your house with clean 
energy isn't worth it, Madam Speaker.
  Wealthy liberals might feel really good about that solar panel on the 
roof of their vacation home, but before they lecture the rest of us 
about clean energy, they should think twice about how that solar panel 
was made.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Tennessee.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of 
Georgia (Mr. Carter).
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding and for doing this tonight. This is extremely important, and I 
appreciate his leadership on that.
  Madam Speaker, the Biden administration has been waging a war on 
American energy and energy jobs since his first day in office. Of 
course, on President Biden's first day in office, he killed over 11,000 
American jobs, which were created by the Keystone pipeline.
  Then the administration banned new energy leases that will cost 
500,000 American jobs by 2040. Then he reentered the U.S. into the 
Paris Agreement that will destroy our competitiveness and reduce 
employment in the U.S. by 2.7 million jobs in 2025.
  If that wasn't bad enough, the administration will destroy what high-
paying jobs are remaining in our energy sector with this reconciliation 
package. It includes a devastating tax on natural gas. By taxing it 
more, we will disincentivize the continued transition away from dirtier 
fuels.
  It will increase global emissions by giving foreign adversaries a 
competitive advantage exporting energy. This will also jeopardize 
American energy security. Taxing natural gas is designed to push us to 
use more wind and solar energy.
  But just this week it was reported that energy prices in Europe are 
hitting record highs as their increased dependence on wind power has 
failed to be consistently reliable. It would be a cold and dark winter 
in places like Europe and California if there was not natural gas 
available this year. This again demonstrates how we must continue to 
pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy.
  Then there are the giveaways to the richest in America. The 
President's massive socialist wish list subsidizes electric vehicles, 
despite the fact that the average owner of an electric vehicle makes 
well over six figures.
  Perhaps worst of all is the pursuit of all of these policies with the 
absolute and arrogant certainty that it will reduce emissions. However, 
it will likely reverse the progress we have already made reducing 
emissions.
  The Paris Agreement allows for the world's worst polluters to 
continue polluting well into the future. The use of lower emission 
natural gas instead of other fossil fuels is largely responsible for 
the enormous reduction of American emissions over the past couple of 
decades.
  But instead of embracing that success, the President proposes taxing 
it into oblivion and picking his winners and losers. We saw how that 
worked out with Solyndra. We are sacrificing growth and prosperity for 
American families in the name of political posturing.
  This is too heavy of a price for a policy that will not better our 
environment or make us energy independent. Democratic proposals will 
lead to higher energy prices, reduce the reliability of electricity for 
many communities, and take away good paying jobs.
  We had a witness on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis make 
an excellent point. Killing jobs connected to fossil fuels, like coal 
and gas, has already destroyed communities years ago and they have 
never recovered. The very same may happen to healthy, thriving 
communities that have relied on good paying oil and gas jobs for 
generations.
  These are good jobs. Often these are the only jobs in rural areas. 
Destroying these jobs will only further the disparity between urban and 
rural America.
  Madam Speaker, I urge this President to support all Americans and 
stop his war on American energy, and I thank the gentleman for 
sponsoring this tonight.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Georgia, especially for raising the important point of the all-of-the-
above approach to energy. But above all, we need to maintain the great 
jobs that comes from the fuels that are under our feet.

[[Page H5456]]

  Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from the great State of 
Washington (Mr. Newhouse).
  Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for 
having this really important conversation.
  Madam Speaker, since day one, President Biden has made his priorities 
abundantly clear to the American people:
  Keystone XL pipeline? Canceled.
  Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline? Approved.
  Domestic oil and gas protection on Federal lands? Canceled.
  Increased Russian and OPEC oil production? Approved.
  If this picture still isn't black and white enough, allow me to 
clarify further. President Biden and his administration continue to 
support and promote foreign energy development and foreign jobs, while 
quite literally canceling American energy development and eliminating 
good-paying American jobs.
  These actions have led to higher energy prices, increased costs of 
goods and services, and--most egregiously--greater reliance on foreign 
countries.
  As stockpiles of natural gas continue to deplete, world leaders, 
including President Biden, are going to have to answer the call for 
increased fuel demand, especially as winter gets closer.
  As the chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus and a member of 
the House Energy Action Team, I have worked with all our Members, as 
well as our partners, to highlight the impacts of President Biden's 
decisions and what they have done to our rural communities across the 
country: from decreased public school funding to forcing small 
businesses to close their doors.

  Earlier this month, our colleagues from across the aisle, who serve 
on the House Committee on Natural Resources all voted to ban onshore as 
well as offshore oil and natural gas production. They seem to forget 
that the fees that are generated by these activities go straight into 
the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which those very same Members 
voted to support last Congress. It makes no sense.
  The U.S. is the greatest country in the world, and we have the 
ability, once again, to achieve energy independence, provide affordable 
and reliable energy for our citizens, as well as supporting our allies. 
We just need our leaders to have these priorities as well.
  Our President should support American jobs, not Russian jobs; he 
should support lower gas prices, not higher gas prices; he should 
support American energy dominance, not foreign energy production and 
reliance.
  Madam Speaker, I would encourage all of my colleagues on both sides 
of the aisle, and in the White House, to reassess their priorities, 
support policies that help the American people, and not hinder them.
  Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Joyce, and I truly appreciate the 
opportunity to speak on a very important issue for the American people.

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from 
the State of Washington and chairman of the Congressional Western 
Caucus for his insights and for taking the time this evening to present 
those.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of 
Georgia (Mr. Allen), who is my friend and who is, more importantly, 
going to discuss the impacts in his State of Georgia.
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Joyce for yielding to me.
  Madam Speaker, under the Trump administration and the Republican 
majority, our Nation was energy independent for the first time in my 
lifetime.
  Sadly, after everything we did to become more energy independent and 
grow our economy, President Biden and the Democrats have done the 
opposite. As a result of the Biden administration's policies, American 
jobs have been destroyed and families are paying more for everything.
  The fact that Biden begged OPEC and Saudi Arabia to boost oil output 
because Americans have been paying over 40 percent more at the gas pump 
is a sobering example of this weak leadership, and it demonstrates how 
this administration's constant assault on American energy has 
embarrassed us on the world stage.
  To make matters worse, the Democrats are marching full steam ahead 
with more job-destroying and cost-raising policies as part of their 
$3.5 trillion tax and spending spree. For example, their proposed 
natural gas tax would eliminate up to 90,000 jobs in just the first 
year of the program.
  Whose side are they on?
  It is also alarming that Democrats are proposing $150 billion to 
mandate deployment of clean energy that is manufactured in China, while 
at the same time China is building hundreds of coal-powered electric 
generation plants around the world. They have got to be laughing at us.
  This massive package--which, by the way, we still don't have the full 
cost details yet--will punish American households and consumers through 
higher costs while sending good paying jobs overseas.
  Like I said: Whose side are they on?
  Sadly, this isn't anything new. President Biden has continued to hand 
our adversaries like Russia and China victory after victory while 
chipping away at our energy dominance.
  Madam Speaker, I urge President Biden and the Democrats to put 
Americans first by ending their war on fossil fuels and instead work 
with Republicans on policies that will get our Nation back on the road 
to energy independence.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I would like to point out 
how essential coal, oil, and natural gas pipelines are to my district 
in Pennsylvania. These are valuable resources that enhance our ability 
to provide low-cost energy to the American people. Yet President 
Biden's decision to cancel the Keystone XL project while allowing 
Russia to continue to export more and more natural gas puts our 
national security at risk.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for 
organizing this event this evening and yielding.
  For the last 8 months, America's energy employers and the individuals 
they employ are suffering a barrage of attacks from the Biden White 
House, all because this administration is fixated on dismantling 
America's energy independence and replacing it with a radical pipe 
dream called the Green New Deal.
  In Pennsylvania and across America, it is not just the energy 
producers and their workers who are feeling the impacts of President 
Biden's attack on American energy. Our schools, hospitals, local 
governments, and downstream job creators are also suffering.
  Pennsylvania's natural gas industry has created incredible 
partnerships that are working to ensure we can meet America's energy 
needs right here at home.
  The School of Petroleum and Natural Gas at Lackawanna College's 
Tunkhannock Center is introducing students to career opportunities in 
the oil and natural gas industry. The Susquehanna County Career & 
Technology Center is working to retain local talent by offering a CDL 
training program that offers students the chance to jump into an in-
demand career.
  When President Biden dismantles American energy, these are the 
organizations and people who suffer. He is dismantling American dreams.
  Higher prices at the pump, energy shortages, and increased costs to 
fuel our businesses and homes are a clear sign that we must embrace 
American energy, not abandon it. We must invest in pipelines and 
refineries, harden our grid from cyberattacks, and cultivate innovation 
to ensure future success.
  If President Biden is serious about building back better, he should 
not be trying to destroy the domestic energy industry that will lead us 
to a better tomorrow.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania for his words specifically addressing the dismantling of 
energy independence.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, it is great to represent the great 
State of Arkansas. I want to say thank you to the HEAT Team and to Mr. 
Joyce for holding this Special Order on the Democrats' assault on 
American energy.

[[Page H5457]]

  As gas prices have recently reached the highest level since 2014, 
Americans are seeing the effects of the decisions that were made on day 
one by President Biden.
  In the Natural Resources Committee, Democrats continue to attack safe 
and reliable energy production, spend millions to kill American energy 
jobs, impose new taxes and fees on working families, and make our 
Nation more reliant than ever on foreign adversaries for critical 
minerals and energy resources we could be producing more cleanly, 
cheaply, and effectively right here at home.
  One glaring example of that--and there are many--is in the Natural 
Resources Committee when we marked up this atrocious, now $5\1/2\ 
trillion, spending bill that the Democrats are trying to push through 
Congress. There is actually a line item there, a $350 million line item 
to close down a copper mine.
  Now, Madam Speaker, how can you talk about green energy when you want 
to close down copper mines in the United States?
  Now, this copper mine is in Arizona, and it was agreed to on a 
bipartisan bill by Senators Harry Reid and John McCain. The mine is 
being developed. As a matter of fact, the owner of the mine has spent 
$2 billion developing this mine. It is 7,000 feet below ground, but 
Democrats want to yank that lease out of their hands. They want to 
close it down.
  Now, what does that tell investors who want to invest in mining in 
America?
  It says: We are closed. We are not open for business.
  Madam Speaker, you can look at numerous other examples. A cancelation 
of the Keystone XL pipeline immediately eliminated 1,000 union jobs as 
well as 10,000 projected jobs associated with the project.
  The President's ban on Federal oil and gas leasing has resulted in 
lost revenues for energy producing States and led our National Security 
Advisor to beg OPEC Plus--which includes Russia, Iran, and Venezuela--
to increase supply and bail us out.
  If this administration's leasing bans become permanent, nearly 
500,000 jobs could be lost by 2040.
  Additionally, in 2019, States received a total of $1.81 billion for 
mineral revenues and used these funds to support public schools, 
environmental restoration, coastal resiliency, and many of our 
important programs.
  This administration has disregarded the fact that energy development 
supports major environmental efforts at the Federal level, such as the 
Land and Water Conservation Fund which is specifically funded by 
offshore drilling revenues.
  To justify its actions, the administration has argued that a major 
scale-up in renewables will replace lost jobs and generating capacity. 
That is nonsense. Forcing a national switch to alternative energy 
against market forces will result in massive unemployment, higher 
energy prices, and possibly rolling blackouts from insufficient power.
  The Democrat's plan simply will not work. It will not work for the 
economy, and it will not work for the environment.
  Here is why it won't work: The Democrat's plan is all about electric 
vehicles. We are going to make electric vehicles. Well, Madam Speaker, 
if you look at global greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. accounts for 
15 percent of it. Transportation is 29 percent. If you could eliminate 
every internal combustion engine, Madam Speaker, you would only affect 
global emissions by a little over 4 percent, and that is if you didn't 
have to use fossil fuels and emit carbon to make the electricity to 
power these cars.
  We are talking about a minimal impact on global carbon at a huge cost 
for American consumers. We don't even have the grid that can handle all 
of these electric vehicles. There are many, many technical problems 
with it.
  China, the world's greatest polluter, last year built 38 gigawatts of 
coal power plants. That is one large coal-fired plant every week.
  We have to ask ourselves: Why would China go to coal?
  That is simple. It is because coal is reliable, and coal is low cost.
  When we look at what our energy policies should be here in the United 
States and when we look at what will actually work for our economy and 
especially for the global environment, we should be asking ourselves: 
How do we make the most reliable, lowest cost, and the cleanest 
technology--technology that developing countries will adopt?
  Because they are not going to adopt expensive technology. They are 
going to continue building old technology.
  We have got to be the innovators if we truly want to affect the 
global environment.
  Again, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this important 
matter, and I appreciate the gentleman for hosting this Special Order.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I think the gentleman from 
Arkansas has made incredible points we all should be listening to. He 
highlighted the important role that coal continues to play in supplying 
power to our electric grid. In Congress we need to remain committed to 
addressing the needs of the American people and ensure that they have 
safe, reliable, and affordable energy.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. LaTurner).
  Mr. LaTURNER. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of energy 
producers across our country and especially in my home State of Kansas.
  Over the past 9 months the Biden administration has put American 
energy producers on the back burner. Kansans are already paying over 40 
percent more at the pump than they were last year, and yet my 
colleagues across the aisle want to ram through a reckless $3.5 
trillion spending spree that would lead to the largest tax increase on 
working families and small businesses in decades.
  There is a laundry list of bad policy in this spending spree, 
including the Clean Electricity Performance Program, a Federal takeover 
of our Nation's electricity. This $150 billion program would dictate 
how we power our homes, businesses, and everyday lives.
  Democrats want to mandate energy providers to distribute a certain 
amount of renewable energy to their customers. Those who comply will 
get grants from the Department of Energy, while those falling short 
would have to pay fees to the Federal Government. This plan is 
absolutely ridiculous and will only make energy more expensive, 
undermine our grid reliability, and make our Nation even more dependent 
on Communist China.

  As these massive Democrat spending sprees continue to make their way 
through committees and eventually to the House floor, I will continue 
to fight for Kansas energy producers.
  Our focus needs to be encouraging domestic energy production across 
the country, having a robust energy portfolio, and ending our reliance 
on foreign energy.
  Democrats seem to think it is impossible to have affordable, 
bountiful, and innovative energy while also having clean air and water. 
That is simply not true. Oil and gas produced here in the United States 
is among the cleanest and safest in the world. It is time to end the 
assault on our energy producers and return to American energy 
independence.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Kansas for his comments.
  The energy needs and the resources available throughout our country 
are very significant, and as we move forward it is essential that 
government bureaucrats are not choosing the winners and the losers. The 
best energy producers should rise to the top.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
  Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for his 
leadership and leading tonight's Special Order.
  As a member of both the HEAT Team and a member of the House Financial 
Services Committee, I want to address another dimension of the Biden 
administration's war on American energy.
  Specifically it is the Biden administration's weaponization of 
financial regulation to implement through the back door of unilateral 
executive action what it cannot do through the democratic process and 
what it cannot do through the Congress and through the legislative 
process, because, frankly, the Biden administration knows that the 
American people oppose their radical agenda that would decrease the

[[Page H5458]]

reliability and affordability of electricity, industrial power, and the 
manner in which we conduct daily life.

                              {time}  2045

  That is, specifically, that the Biden administration intends to use 
financial regulators to bully banks, investors, and other financial 
firms, to divert capital away from what they view as politically 
unfashionable energy producers.
  This is coming in multiple different forms. The Secretary of the 
Treasury has set up a czar within the Department of the Treasury to 
look at this from a holistic perspective to discriminate against 
American companies and American workers.
  In bank regulation, there is a concept called redlining, and it used 
to be that it was illegal for banks and other financial firms to 
discriminate against the American people. Well, now the Biden 
administration is legalizing redlining. They are redlining against 
their own people because they are engaged in an industry, a great 
American industry that, for decades, has powered the American economy. 
Now they want to discriminate against those American heroes who have 
literally powered this country for decades.
  What form does this take? Number one, it is taking the form of bank 
regulation, where the bank regulators are bullying credit providers and 
saying: You ought to rethink who you are lending money to because we 
don't think you should be lending money because of the reputational 
risk.
  For example, ``Bank A, you better stop loaning money to that Kentucky 
coal mining operator. We want to get rid of all those coal mining jobs 
in eastern Kentucky,'' in my home State.
  So, instead of going after the coal mining operator directly, they 
are going to the bank and saying: Choke off that coal mining company.
  To heck with the fact that those mining jobs are important to put 
food on the table for those people in eastern Kentucky and in western 
Kentucky. They are weaponizing bank regulation.
  That is precisely why, Madam Speaker, I introduced a bill to fix this 
called the Fair Access to Banking Act. This would basically codify the 
Fair Access to Financial Services Rule that the Office of the 
Comptroller promulgated in the previous administration. It would 
basically provide a guidance to banks that they must provide access to 
capital and credit based on assessment of the borrower's actual risk, 
rather than making broad-based decisions impacting entire industries.
  This is guided by the fundamental principle of nondiscrimination and 
ensures that banks can't pick winners and losers in the marketplace.
  That bill is pending in the Financial Services Committee, and we 
can't get any kind of consideration by this majority because this 
majority doesn't want fair access to banking. They are endorsing the 
Biden administration policy of discriminating against the American 
people.
  Then there is the issue of ESG investing and mandating ESG, so-called 
environmental and social governance. This is through the back door of 
securities regulations at the Securities and Exchange Commission, but 
this is not the mission of the SEC.
  The statutory mission of the SEC is to protect investors; to maintain 
fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and to facilitate capital 
formation. Its mission is not to reduce carbon emissions or solve 
climate change or try to change the weather.
  I acknowledge that there is some investor demand in the market for 
ESG funds. I also see some utility in standardization of ESG 
disclosures to eliminate some of the inconsistencies in the way public 
companies are rated because, let's face it, even if you are interested 
in sustainable investing, you do not know what you are investing in 
because these ESG funds are frauds, in many cases.
  But more than 90 percent of all S&P 500 companies already voluntarily 
publish ESG information on an annual basis, and this regulatory 
approach from the Gensler SEC would not provide new material 
information to investors. Instead, it would inundate investors with 
voluminous, confusing, and nonmaterial information that would hurt the 
very investors that Democrats claim they want to help or, in the words 
of the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, in TSC Industries v. Northway, 
bury the shareholders in an avalanche of trivial information, a result 
that is hardly conducive to informed decisionmaking. We need to avoid 
burdening investors with an avalanche of trivial information.
  The Gensler SEC would also weaponize disclosure requirements to name 
and shame politically incorrect companies; pick winners and losers in 
the marketplace; and discriminate against energy firms that produce 
jobs, affordable and reliable energy, and returns to investors.
  The SEC proposal would also compromise investor returns by elevating 
nonpecuniary factors above and ahead of financial performance. Fees for 
ESG funds are 43 percent higher than non-ESG funds and many low-ranked 
ESG stocks. They outperform the market overall.
  We must not harm American savers by subordinating investor returns to 
promote nonpecuniary policy objectives like social justice, diversity 
quotas, and lower carbon emissions.
  Finally, the Gensler SEC, the Biden Securities and Exchange 
Commission, would increase compliance costs for public companies, 
discourage private companies from going public, and encourage public 
companies to go private, resulting in fewer investment choices for 
everyday investors. This is why the Gensler SEC is even proposing to 
hoist these requirements on private companies. The SEC, by wading into 
social and environmental policy debates like climate change, through a 
top-down, government-directed, one-size-fits-all mandatory ESG 
disclosure regulation, untethered to the longstanding investor-driven 
materiality standard, will politicize the agency and reduce its 
credibility by hurting investors, elevating nonpecuniary factors above 
financial returns.
  Here is the bottom line. Not only is the Biden administration waging 
a frontal assault on heroic American energy companies that provide the 
American people with affordable, reliable energy, particularly low-
income and blue collar families who can't afford the skyrocketing costs 
of Biden's energy bill, but in addition to that, this backdoor approach 
to financial regulation, discriminating against Americans in these 
industries, will compromise investor returns, elevating and 
prioritizing the woke environmental priorities of the select coastal 
elites over middle-income Americans in the energy sector who provide 
affordable energy for the American people, compromising Main Street 
investment returns.

  Those moms and dads who are trying to put their kids through college, 
those folks who are trying to save in their 401(k)'s and their IRAs 
just to have a secure retirement, those middle-class Americans are 
going to be the ones who suffer because of the politicization and the 
weaponization of securities regulation.
  This is exactly why we must oppose this dangerous agenda that will 
compromise American energy dominance, American energy independence, and 
investor returns.
  Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for his leadership 
on this issue. I thank the HEAT Team for bringing some light to this. I 
wanted to provide a little bit of a different dimension to this 
important debate, and that is how the Biden administration is 
weaponizing financial regulation.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, could you please clarify 
how much time I have remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 15 minutes remaining.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the whip of the minority team.
  Mr. SCALISE. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania, Dr. 
Joyce, for yielding and for leading this effort to defend American 
energy.
  Madam Speaker, you might wonder: Why are we on the House floor 
defending American energy? Who could possibly, in the United States 
Congress, be opposed to American energy?
  Unfortunately, as we have seen this year, from President Biden to 
Speaker Pelosi to this whole Democrat majority, they have had an all-
out assault on American energy.
  It started day one when President Biden took the oath of office. That 
day,

[[Page H5459]]

he drove down Pennsylvania Avenue and started signing executive orders 
to destroy America's energy independence.
  It started with the Keystone pipeline. It was a great relationship 
between the United States and our great friend, Canada, our neighbor 
from the north, a pipeline to bring energy to America where it could be 
refined in a really good, environmentally protective way in the United 
States of America. But President Biden said no.
  You would think he said no because he is just against pipelines in 
general, except just weeks later, President Biden green-lighted a 
pipeline in Russia, from Russia to Germany. So, President Biden was 
against American energy jobs and American pipelines, but he was okay 
with helping Russia, giving a gift to Russia.
  He kept going on and on. He put a moratorium on drilling in the 
United States, but then, just weeks ago, he tried to ban not only 
American energy but then he goes and begs OPEC and Russia to produce 
more oil. You can't make this stuff up.
  If American energy is so bad, why are you begging OPEC and Russia to 
produce fossil fuels? They are either good or they are bad.
  The question here, Madam Speaker, is: Where should energy be made?
  If you look at this whole global warming, Green New Deal push by the 
President to increase taxes on Americans, you wonder why Americans are 
paying 40 percent more for gasoline at the pump. It is because of 
President Biden's assault on American energy.
  But he has given OPEC a free pass. In fact, he is giving OPEC more 
leverage by cutting off our supply and letting them increase their 
supply.
  Now, you might think Russia or Saudi Arabia or China came up with 
this crazy strategy. No, it was President Biden and Speaker Pelosi and 
a Democrat Congress that came up with this, and you are seeing it in 
their tax proposal, this crazy $5.5 trillion massive tax-and-spend 
proposal we are going to see come into play this week on the House 
floor--more assaults on American energy.
  Who pays? I will tell you who pays: the American consumer, families, 
hardworking families. In fact, the people hit the hardest are the 
lowest income people.
  Remember when President Biden promised if you make less than 
$400,000, you won't pay a dime in new taxes? Sounded great, except he 
is already pledging to break that promise by increasing taxes on, among 
many other things, natural gas.
  That is right. If you use natural gas to heat your home or cool your 
home, you are going to pay more, double digits more, every single month 
under President Biden's plan. That is right. He broke that promise.
  Then if you look at all of his other assaults on American energy, if 
it was all about carbon emissions and saving the planet, well, guess 
what? Those foreign countries that we were talking about, whether it is 
Russia or OPEC nations, they emit more carbon to make the same oil. To 
produce oil emits carbon.
  In America, we actually do it better than anywhere else in the world. 
If you want to reduce carbon emissions, make more of it here in 
America, not less.
  Why would you want to give a gift to countries that don't have the 
same standards we have?
  Too often, you see liberals on the other side wanting to bash America 
every single day. You know, hit America, attack America.
  Enough is enough. People are figuring this out. They are paying more 
at the pump. They are paying more at the grocery store. They are paying 
more for everything because of these radical assaults on American 
energy and American entrepreneurialism.
  Free market capitalism is under assault by Big Government socialism. 
That is what this fight is about.
  We are going to continue to stand up for American energy and to get 
the facts out. If you are going to make stuff anywhere in the world, if 
you want to produce steel, make it in America, because if you make it 
in China or India or some other country, they emit five times more 
carbon.

  Yet, what President Biden is doing in his policies is attacking that 
very American energy that works to create great jobs here at home to 
rebuild our middle class, to help those hardworking families who are 
sick and tired of paying more, and stop giving gifts to foreign 
countries like China.
  I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for his leadership.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the whip for his 
concise discussion about the assault on American energy and how that 
affects the working class communities throughout the United States.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from North Carolina (Mr. 
Cawthorn).
  Mr. CAWTHORN. Madam Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague for his 
leadership.
  Madam Speaker, this is my generation's long-form death certificate. 
You endorsed it. You own it, and you will pass it. But I will be the 
one to pay for it.
  My generation, and if America still stands, my grandchildren, will 
pay for this Trojan horse of a socialist proposal, $3.5 trillion in 
unhinged, unconscionable, irredeemable spending.
  It is the final nail in the coffin of the American Dream. Karl Marx 
would even call this bill radical.
  Look at this. This is a pallet of $100 million and, for scale, beside 
that is me. And behind all of that is what the Democrats propose to 
spend.
  You have stolen my generation's checkbook, and, Madam Speaker, we 
want it back. No American who votes for this trash should ever see the 
inside of a legislative chamber ever again. They should never take 
another oath of office for Congress, for statehouse. Hell, they 
shouldn't even be able to get on the mosquito control board because 
they have endorsed the demise of the country they swore to protect.

                              {time}  2100

  This is what crushing, overwhelming, unrecoverable debt looks like. 
And we haven't even talked about the substance. This proposal is 
legislative malfeasance on the lifeblood of our country: energy 
independence, and more importantly, energy dominance.
  You show me a nation's energy policies, and I will show you the 
future of that nation. Under President Trump, our energy independence 
carved out our standing in the world. We were the captains of our 
destiny, not Middle East kingdoms. We augmented our national security 
through America First energy independence, not foreign reliance. 
America was leading the world. When Joe Biden took office, our soaring, 
thriving energy independence came crashing down.
  Failed policies, fatal spending: that is your legacy, Madam Speaker. 
You have put before us a death wish for America.
  You stand guilty of financial treason, Madam Speaker. But the 
sentence will be served out by my generation.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman 
from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).
  Mr. BERGMAN. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend from 
Pennsylvania, Dr. Joyce, for holding this Special Order tonight.
  I find myself increasingly concerned with the future of our country, 
especially now under the Biden administration, where it has been one 
self-inflicted crisis after another.
  How have we addressed these situations? Well, we have seen 
unprecedented intrusions into our daily lives by the Federal 
Government; trillions added to our national debt; and the birth of new, 
completely avoidable threats to our national security.
  Even this administration's approach to energy unnecessarily threatens 
the safety and security of all Americans.
  On day one of his administration, President Biden shut down the 
Keystone pipeline, costing thousands of jobs, and then turns around to 
support Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Big question mark.
  Make no mistake. This is an America last policy. In fact, it could be 
America never.
  We need an energy policy that gives America greater energy 
independence, not one where we are forced to rely on unstable foreign 
markets.
  We have the resources and technology at home, right here, to give us 
that independence, yet Democrat leadership continues to ignore it in 
favor of the Green New Deal.
  Don't get me wrong. I support energy policies that promote resiliency 
and

[[Page H5460]]

sustainability, but I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that we 
need to punish the American energy industry in order to achieve a 
healthy environment.
  I urge this administration and my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle to focus on real investments in American energy, instead of 
policies that make us more dependent on foreign energy sources while 
destroying jobs, alienating American industry, and depressing the 
hardworking people who continue to strive to keep our country--that is 
our country, the United States of America--the premier example of 
integrity, innovation, and initiative that leads the world, especially 
in safe, affordable energy.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Michigan for his concise and inspiring words.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger).
  Mr. PFLUGER. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from 
Pennsylvania for hosting this Special Order.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of every American family. 
Cold, dark, and hungry is where those families will be if we continue 
on this path: cold, dark, and hungry.
  Just two years ago, the United States became energy independent, the 
number one producer of oil and gas in the entire world, thanks to the 
previous administration's leadership on deregulating industry that made 
greater gains in reducing harmful emissions than any other 
administration in the history of this country.
  Now, we risk losing our competitive edge on the world stage with 
needless regulations and more taxes in the budget reconciliation bill 
that will only hurt small and independent producers and will hurt every 
working-class family in this country.
  Let's look across the Atlantic to our neighbors in Europe right this 
second who are currently suffering through a cataclysmic energy crisis. 
Their shortage of natural gas and fuel is causing multiple governments 
across Europe to shut down factories and to warn their citizens to 
prepare for consistent blackouts. Cold, dark, and hungry.
  Meanwhile, the fuel lines are growing scarily close to what we saw in 
the 1970s. This world of shortages, blackouts, and fuel lines may be in 
Europe today, but it is going to be a reality right here in the United 
States if this administration continues to push reckless and 
destructive energy policies.
  The fate of this is in the hands of this body right here, of 
Democrats who say that they support oil and gas. But we know that the 
vote that is going to happen this week will determine whether or not 
they really support it.
  As technology advances and the world population continues to grow, we 
are only going to need more and more energy to power this world.
  The truth is that renewables simply cannot provide affordable and 
reliable energy. In my home State, in my district, we produce more wind 
energy than the entire State of California. We know a little bit about 
renewables.
  A strong energy sector is nonnegotiable.
  Unfortunately, my colleagues continue to push policies that have 
destroyed American energy independence and will devastate over 10 
million jobs right here in the United States.
  American private energy industry ingenuity can compete toe-to-toe 
with anyone in the world to deliver a safe and responsible energy 
source, but we cannot shackle our production with ill-advised policies 
and regulations.
  The Permian Basin, where I represent, is the reason that every 
American can enjoy affordable, reliable energy in so many other places 
across this United States.
  Energy security is national security, and nothing can be more 
important. Anyone voting in favor of reconciliation is voting against 
American energy and is voting against the independence that keeps our 
national security so strong.
  I urge my colleagues to support the energy industry and to embrace an 
all-of-the-above energy approach, which is so dependent on American oil 
and gas.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Texas for his remarks.
  I want to thank all of the members of the House Energy Action Team 
for their work tonight and their commitment to the American people.
  We have heard examples of how President Biden's disastrous policies 
are harmful to energy producers and to the consumers. We have seen 
examples of how these policies create overburdensome regulations that 
harm small businesses and stifle innovation.
  I am proud to be working with my HEAT colleagues to push back against 
these disastrous policies.
  Right now, the United States must embrace an all-of-the-above energy 
solution that will combine the needs of the consumers with the 
strengths of our producers.
  What does that mean? It means embracing baseload power creators, 
including coal and natural gas produced from Marcellus Shale. These are 
critical components of Pennsylvania's energy industry.
  On the first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order 
that suspended work on the needed Keystone XL pipeline.
  In Pennsylvania, the natural gas and oil industry supports over 
300,000 jobs, provides over $20 billion in wages, and contributes 
nearly $44.5 billion to our economy.
  Between 2018 and 2019 alone, natural gas brought in over $450 million 
in revenue in our Commonwealth.
  We have learned a lot tonight. We have learned the strong energy 
sector cannot and should not be negotiable. We recognize that energy 
security is clearly national security.
  Madam Speaker, I thank you for allowing my colleagues and me to 
present this important information tonight to the United States 
Congress.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

  Mr. ROUZER. Madam Speaker, where there is an abundance of energy, 
there is prosperity. Energy made in America creates jobs, lowers energy 
costs for American families and small businesses, and enhances our 
national security.
  Unfortunately, the Biden administration is working overtime to undo 
all the progress made during the previous administration towards energy 
independence. They have banned new oil and gas leases on public lands 
and cancelled the Keystone XL Pipeline--killing thousands of American 
jobs and increasing our Nation's dependence on foreign countries.
  Now, the liberals in Congress hope to pass their $4.3 trillion tax 
and spend spree that includes their radical new tax on natural gas. 
Natural gas, by the way, is the primary reason why carbon emissions 
today are substantially lower.
  This extreme partisan provision will not only decimate American 
energy, but it will kill thousands of good-paying jobs, burden families 
with higher utility costs, and make the United States more dependent on 
our adversaries, whose economies produce dramatically more carbon than 
the United States.
  While President Biden promised not to raise taxes on middle-class 
American families, this assault on fossil fuels breaks his promise in 
the form of higher energy costs on families who are already feeling the 
impacts of sky-rocketing inflation.
  The Colonial Pipeline cybersecurity attack that took place earlier 
this year underscores the need to invest in a more robust and secure 
energy future. With the pipeline transporting nearly half of the East 
Coast's fuel supply, gasoline shortages threatened millions of 
Americans. This caused long lines at the pump and, in many cases, such 
as in North Carolina, no fuel at the vast majority of gas pumps. This 
is the perfect example of why we need more opportunities for reliable 
energy--not less.
  As I stated at the outset: where there is an abundance of energy, 
there is prosperity. And instead of attacking American energy 
producers, this administration and Congress should be working to ensure 
our energy supply is more resilient--not more vulnerable.

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