[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           REWARDING BIG OIL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, today and tomorrow House Republicans are 
bringing the Strategic Production Response Act to the floor, a bill 
that forces the administration to open up even more public lands and 
waters to drilling any time the President releases oils from the 
reserve in order to lower consumer gas prices.
  Now, what House Republicans are doing is effectively ending the 
President's authority to lower consumer gas prices while handing over 
our public lands and waters to Big Oil.
  You might wonder why Republicans are pushing legislation that clearly 
hurts the American people and consumers.
  To put it plainly, they are simply crossing another item off the wish 
list of Big Oil. It is a simple payback to the political campaign 
donors. This legislation is not needed. It is fabricated. It is based 
on a lie.
  Time after time, year after year, the fossil fuel industry lobbies to 
control and lock up more of our public lands and waters, and it often 
comes at the expense of surrounding environmental justice communities.
  I say it is built on a lie. There are 9,000 permits on public land 
effectively for Big Oil to be able to drill, access, and extract. There 
are 2,000 that are not being used. There are 2,000 permits on our 
oceans and waters that at this point 75 percent of those permits are 
not being used, which already affords them the opportunity to extract.
  Frontline communities in this country carry a legacy of dumping 
activities that have endangered both the health and the quality of life 
of these communities.
  Sadly, Big Oil has a well-documented and troubled history of 
concentrating their polluting projects, such as pipelines and 
refineries, in environmental justice communities, including communities 
of color, poor communities, Tribal communities, communities without 
political representation and a systemic discrimination in terms of the 
burden they carry. All of this is documented. It is documented in 
higher air pollution rates in those communities, water pollution and 
contamination, premature death, higher incidence of cancer, and other 
diseases that affect these communities more than any other.
  Yet, Republicans, once again, stand ready to do Big Oil's bidding 
this week. If Republicans actually are interested in helping American 
families in the communities overburdened by oil industry pollution, 
they would support the Environmental Justice For All Act.
  We have been working on the Environmental Justice For All Act for 
over 3 years. It was developed and shaped directly by EJ communities 
during an extensive engagement process.
  This Act has many components, but it's based on a simple principle: 
All people have the right to clean air, clean water, and healthy local 
environments. For too many across our Nation, these rights are not yet 
realized.
  The provisions in the Environmental Justice For All Act are about 
credible, equitable access to parks and outdoor activities and 
opportunities for underserved communities.
  Federal agencies will be required to meaningfully, under NEPA, engage 
any communities prior to any decision when proposing actions affecting 
an EJ community and it strengthens Tribal consultation and input 
opportunities.
  The bill strengthens and restores civil rights protections for 
communities long facing greater environmental hazards on the bases of 
race, color, or national origin.

  The bill brings transparency, coordination, and accountability from 
Federal agencies when they carry out activities affecting frontline 
communities.
  I was proud to work with Representative McEachin, who left us far too 
early, to develop the Environmental Justice For All Act. His legacy on 
this issue, is his compassion that he brought to it, his strength that 
he brought to it, they continue to be the legacy and the motivation to 
secure environmental justice and work for this legislation.
  I am proud to say that Representative Barbara Lee will now join as 
co-lead on the Environmental Justice For All Act this session, and now 
the legislation will be called the Donald McEachin Environmental 
Justice For All Act.
  We are talking about basic rights. We are not talking about anything 
extravagant, anything that is not proven by fact. These communities 
have been burdened time and time again by industry.
  The legislation that we will be seeing today and tomorrow brought 
forth by the Republicans opens the door once again to unchecked, 
unmonitored and unprotected actions that will negatively continue to 
affect these communities.
  The environment, climate, the need for remediation, and the need for 
involvement by all communities, and the resolution of the issues we 
face around climate change requires that the environmental justice 
community long left off the discussion, long-ignored in the history of 
this Nation, in the siting of projects and activities that have hurt 
those communities and those families, needs to be at the table.
  If my Republican colleagues indeed want to reward Big Oil for their 
support that they have given them, it is time that they include all 
communities.

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