[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           SCOURGE OF WOKEISM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wyoming (Ms. Hageman) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. HAGEMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about yet another 
instance of the insanity of wokeism that is permeating our society, 
ruining our culture, and destroying our ability to govern.
  This scourge has infiltrated academia, the media, and our corporate 
boardrooms, and it is now taking over our government functions, all on 
the backs of our taxpayers, those very taxpayers who recognize this 
nonsense for what it is and who are being plucked clean by an elitist 
cabal of eco-warriors who are paid to destroy the very standard of 
living that allows them to focus on made-up crises rather than to do 
the job for which they were hired.
  Of what do I speak? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has now begun 
offering eco-grief training for its employees. Yes, you heard me 
correctly. Eco-grief, a made-up condition that provides an opportunity 
for our oh-so-delicate employees who are allegedly struggling with a 
sense of trauma as they witness what they claim is a changing 
environment.
  It is one thing for a private company to waste its own money, but it 
is not okay for the Federal Government to misappropriate our money to 
further a political agenda that is intended to increase the cost of 
putting food on your table, a roof over your head, and gas in your car.

  It is our money that is being used for environmental activism instead 
of paying down some of our nearly $32 trillion in debt. It is our money 
that is being used to convince people that the United States is evil, 
despite the fact that we have lifted more people out of poverty, 
provided a better standard of living, and provided more opportunities 
for more people than any other country in the history of mankind while 
at the same time using and managing our natural resources in a way that 
protects our environment and our sovereignty.
  Eco-grief is admittedly a smaller budget item than many other woke 
programs. That, however, is no reason to ignore what it portends, as it 
is just the latest made-up malady and another part of a larger scale 
assault on both common sense and American energy.
  Biden's administration has gone to war on our energy industries by 
blocking the extraction, development, transport, and use of our 
abundant and clean fossil fuels--in other words, those energy resources 
that actually work, such as coal, oil and gas, and uranium.
  They seek to make us energy paupers, thereby forcing the United 
States to beg other countries for the resources that we need to power 
this country and our economy.
  Permitting is now longer, more complicated, more expensive, and 
designed to limit new energy development and production throughout 
every step of the process. Oil and gas leases have declined by 97 
percent compared to this point in Donald Trump's Presidency.
  Despite Biden irresponsibly tapping into our Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve, gas prices remain stubbornly high, and natural gas, a major 
source of home heating for half of America, is expected to increase by 
25 percent.
  Coal provides a quarter of America's energy. It is critical to 
manufacturing and is vital to not only my State of Wyoming but to 
anyone who wants to ensure access to clean and affordable energy. It is 
under constant attack by the ever-increasing and more restrictive rules 
issued from on high by the unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
  Who suffers? The citizens of this country, with the poorest among us 
suffering the most. I believe that there truly is a special place in 
hell for people who adopt policies that are designed to create energy 
poverty, a situation where families must choose between buying food, 
heating their homes, or putting gas in their cars. This will be one of 
Biden's lasting legacies, shared misery for everyone except the liberal 
elite.
  Quite simply, we cannot afford the woke energy agenda being pursued 
by President Biden, and we sure as heck can't indulge in the latest 
made-up condition of eco-grief.
  While it may seem that we are in a hopeless situation with a nonstop 
cycle of bad policies coming out of D.C., we cannot give up. With 
Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, we must 
pass legislation to claw back power from the administrative state, and 
I am filing multiple bills to do just that.
  Ultimately, the solution is in producing our affordable and plentiful 
American energy, but we cannot wait for 2 more years. Our citizens need 
relief now.
  I hope that everyone in this Chamber will join me in fighting against 
Biden's war on energy. We must call out the nonsense and remind these 
unelected bureaucrats who they actually work for--the American citizens 
who have no interest in paying for their counseling.
  For our friends at the Fish and Wildlife Service who may be watching 
this speech, you may want to take that eco-grief seminar now, before we 
legislate it out of existence.

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