[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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