[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ENERGY CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cline) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, our Nation is facing avoidable crises on many 
fronts. Because of President Biden's and the Democrats' failed 
leadership, Americans are dealing with a border crisis, an inflation 
crisis, a spreading crime crisis, and a crisis in Afghanistan. And now, 
with the national average for a gallon of gas hitting $3.30 last week--
a 7-year high--we are also facing an energy crisis.
  Let me be clear: the responsibility for this crisis belongs at the 
feet of none other than President Joe Biden. His anti-energy agenda has 
destroyed American jobs and ended America's energy independence. On his 
first day in office, the President killed 11,000 jobs by canceling the 
Keystone pipeline, and one of his first executive orders paused new oil 
and gas leasing on U.S. lands and waters. That executive order alone 
will cost approximately 1 million American jobs in the near term and 
will decrease U.S. gross domestic product by $700 billion.
  That same order also puts America's energy security at risk. To make 
up for slowed production in the United States, U.S. imports from 
foreign sources will increase by 2 million barrels a day, and through 
2030 we would spend $500 billion more on energy from foreign suppliers. 
Instead of making it easier for American companies to increase American 
oil and gas production and hire more U.S. workers, President Biden 
begged OPEC and Russia to increase global output to ease rising prices.
  It is a shame. The President has made us more reliant on dangerous 
adversaries overseas rather than maintaining policies that had us on 
the verge of energy independence.
  It would be great if Joe Biden would reverse course and turn, once 
again, to an all-of-the-above American energy solution that ensures we 
are reliant on no one but ourselves; but, instead, I guess we are just 
going to have to lower our expectations.

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