[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 14, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H603-H610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7176, UNLOCKING OUR DOMESTIC LNG
POTENTIAL ACT OF 2024
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 1009 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 1009
Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be
in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 7176) to
repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are
waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of
order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous
question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on
any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective
designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is
recognized for 1 hour.
[[Page H604]]
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
McGovern), who is my good friend, pending which I yield myself such
time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all
time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in
support of the underlying legislation.
House Resolution 1009 provides for consideration of H.R. 7176, which
is the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024, under a closed
rule with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair
and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or
their respective designees. It provides one motion to recommit.
Mr. Speaker, since President Biden took office, he has waged a war on
American energy independence while supporting policies that have
emboldened Vladimir Putin, the Ayatollah of Iran, and the dictator in
Communist China, Chairman Xi.
Mr. Speaker, if you don't believe me, then let's go through some of
the facts.
President Biden green-lit the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to provide
Russian gas to Europe at the same time that he blocked the Keystone XL
pipeline here at home. He has proposed and enacted rules that have
devastated clean, coal-fired power plants while China approves two coal
power plants a week.
{time} 1315
He has deleted the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest levels
since 1983 and sent millions of barrels of oil to where? Communist
China.
Mr. Speaker, on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, almost as if he was
trolling patriotic Americans and the families of victims of 9/11, on
that same day, he turned around and unfroze $6 billion in oil sanctions
to Iran. Just days later, the Iranians turned around and helped fund a
horrific, medieval, barbaric attack on our number one ally, the State
of Israel.
The Biden administration's policies have truly embodied the slogan,
America last. That is not all. You might be thinking there can't be
more that he has done to devastate energy production and harm ourselves
and our allies, but wait, there is more. We are going to talk about it
right now.
Last month, this administration announced an indefinite pause in new
approvals of liquefied natural gas exports. This deeply concerning
decision puts American family-sustaining jobs and the security of not
only ourselves but our allies and other partners around the globe at
risk.
In the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, our European
allies have nearly tripled their import of U.S. LNG while significantly
reducing their reliance on Russian natural gas.
Studies have shown that LNG exports can provide upward of $73 billion
to the U.S. economy by 2040, create an additional 450,000 jobs, and
help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, Biden and his
administration have tried to put a stop to all that.
This administration's actions will undoubtedly cause significant
disruptions to the United States and global economies.
Let me be clear about one thing. The only people who stand to benefit
from this decision are people based in Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow, and
maybe White, affluent suburbs that vote for Joe Biden and want to feel
good about themselves. Other than that, no one else benefits from this
decision.
That is why House Republicans are bringing to the floor this week the
bipartisan Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act of 2024, which ends
the Biden administration's ban on LNG exports and streamlines the
permitting process by removing the Department of Energy from the
approval process.
This week's vote will be very clear. Do you support American workers
and American energy, or do you support authoritarian and Communist
regimes abroad?
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania
for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would say to my Republican friends, enough with the
lectures. I just spent the last hour listening to the debate on the
previous rule where the Republicans basically were saying the Democrats
had an obligation to fix what the Republicans screwed up to begin with,
that we basically have to clean up their mess.
I just heard the gentleman talk about our obligation to our allies as
the basis for this crummy piece of legislation that we are now talking
about. Really, to get a lecture from Republicans about our obligation
to our allies while they are blocking aid to Ukraine as we speak? The
Senate, with a 70-vote margin, passed in a bipartisan way aid, to
provide essential aid to Ukraine so that Putin will not have a victory,
will not invade Ukraine.
When I hear my friend talk about an obligation to our allies, I urge
him to ask his Speaker to please let the House work its will to bring
this bill to the floor. Let us have a vote. What we are talking about
here today is ridiculous.
Mr. Speaker, this will be the fourth time this Congress that language
either identical or nearly identical to this bill has been reported out
of the Rules Committee. First, it passed as part of Republicans'
destructive H.R. 1 energy package. Then, Republicans tried to pass it
as a standalone bill but had to pull the rule for the bill from the
floor because they didn't have the votes. The third time, the bill was
put on the floor, but it failed to pass because the MAGA clown show
threw a fit after not getting what they wanted. Here we are again, for
the fourth time.
I don't know if my Republican friends have looked at the calendar
recently, but Groundhog Day was actually last week. Maybe they think
this is Nick at Nite, and they want to start airing more reruns.
This is Congress. This is Congress--Congress. The American people
vote for us and pay us because they expect us to work together to get
things done.
The only real difference this fourth time around is that
Republicans--and you really can't make this stuff up--Republicans
blocked Democratic amendments that were made in order the last two
times. The last two times this bill came through the committee, they
made two Democratic amendments in order. Now, they have been blocked
because this is a completely closed rule.
Last night, I asked my colleagues across the aisle why. Why did you
block two Democratic amendments that were germane and made in order the
previous times we looked at this bill? Nobody could answer. My
Republican friends kind of just looked at each other and shrugged.
I am assuming it must have been a directive of the Speaker. Maybe
Speaker Johnson decided that he doesn't even want to pretend to care
about bipartisanship anymore, and that is why he told Republicans to
block Democratic amendments that were made in order in previous rules.
We are dealing with a completely closed rule. The worst part is that
this whole circus is for a garbage LNG bill.
Mr. Speaker, do you know who is happy about this Republican LNG bill?
Big Oil CEOs, and fossil fuel tycoons. China is thrilled with what my
Republican friends are doing today. Wall Street is applauding them.
This bill is awful for hardworking families. It is awful for people
who are worried about high energy prices. It is awful for our climate.
The American people are worried about climate change. They say we
need action. I don't know if my Republican colleagues got the memo, but
climate change is real. Thankfully, President Biden is doing something
about it.
Republicans still can't answer another simple question from us. Why
do they want to turn LNG into a Wild West that mimics the oil market?
For people who are sick of OPEC and Russia fixing the prices that we
pay at the pump every day like I am, just know that this bill makes it
easier for that to happen with LNG.
Republicans talk a big game on China. Their bill helps China and
other
[[Page H605]]
adversaries who rely on American LNG imports.
The truth is this is just another handout to the GOP's best friends.
They want to make sure that Big Energy CEOs and corporations can pad
their pockets while raising prices on all of us. Follow the money. Look
who contributes to them. That tells you all you need to know about why
we are dealing with this bill today.
This entire week is just a master class in Republican incompetence.
My friend across the aisle tells us routinely how crucial their bills
are and how important they are, and then the bills are defeated not by
Democrats but by Republicans.
Republicans just wasted time debating a rule that would bring to the
floor a 1-year, limited fix to the SALT problem that they created with
their Trump tax scam. They caused the problem. Now, we are debating a
rule that they didn't have the votes for last week, and it is likely to
fail on the floor today.
Last night, they impeached Secretary Mayorkas by one vote. They had
to rush and redo that one before Tom Suozzi was sworn in.
The Rules Committee is supposed to meet on a new FISA bill later
today, our third attempt this Congress. Maybe this one will pass. Who
knows?
Everything we are doing this week is a rerun: another impeachment
vote, the FISA bill, the SALT bill, and this LNG bill. This is all
because Republican leadership keeps bringing half-baked ideas to the
floor without knowing where their own Conference stands. It didn't work
the first time or even the second or third time. I guess we have to do
it again.
Look at what is going on in this country. My Republican friends are
barely hanging on to this majority by their fingernails.
Mr. Speaker, you would think that Republicans would look at the
results of last night's election and have a come to Jesus moment. The
American people are rejecting Republican extremism. They are voting
against Republicans' cynical move to tank the bipartisan border deal.
I don't know if you looked at some of the exit polls and some of the
commentary about people who were voting yesterday. People are puzzled
why my Republican friends made such a big deal about the border crisis.
Then, you have a bipartisan border deal that is negotiated in the
Senate, and then the Speaker of the House says it will never see the
light of day and that we don't need any legislation. People are seeing
through this cynicism.
People are against the sham impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas. What
an offensive waste of time that was yesterday. I don't know, maybe
MAGA-based donors are impressed by that kind of behavior, but it does
nothing about anything at the border. It is more grandstanding. People
are sick of that.
Here is the deal. People actually want Republicans to work with
Democrats to get stuff done. What a radical idea that, in Congress,
people would try to work together to pass legislation to help improve
the lives of the people we represent.
That is not what this is today. That is not what we have been seeing
the last several months.
Mr. Speaker, I pointed this out the other day, but I think it is
worth repeating. The Rules Committee is kind of the traffic cop of
Congress. Almost every major piece of legislation that comes to the
floor goes to the Rules Committee, certainly legislation of
consequence.
The last time the Rules Committee brought a bill to the House floor
that actually became law, that passed the Senate and was signed by the
President, was 9 months ago. All this time, bringing these messaging
bills to the floor, the impeachment of Mayorkas, all this garbage that
is being brought to the floor, none of it becomes law.
Why are you here? Mr. Speaker, we are here today considering the same
old bills over and over again because the Republican Party has nothing
to offer but chaos, confusion, and disarray.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to rebut there, but let's start with the
notion that we are here passing the same bill over and over again. That
is simply not true. We are here for one reason and one reason only.
Last month, Biden and the far-left radical Democrats catered to their
base and put an indefinite ban on LNG exports.
Again, as I said in my opening, this is going to hurt American
workers. This is going to hurt our allies and partners around the
world. If you are worried about carbon emissions, it is going to be bad
for the environment. Who benefits from this?
The people who benefit from this are Putin; the dictator in Communist
China, Xi; and the Ayatollah in Iran. They are the only three that
benefit from this. The loser, again, is the American worker and our
allies abroad.
If you support dirty Russian and Iranian oil and gas, then go ahead
and vote against this bill, but know that your vote supports them. If
you support American energy and the American worker, then vote for this
bill. That is why we are here today.
To talk about this being a handout to Wall Street and big
corporations, I tell my colleague across the aisle that the early 2000s
want their Democratic Party back because, the last time I checked, we
are now the party that supports the people who shower after work, not
before. They are the party of Wall Street, and we are the party of Main
Street.
When President Biden took office, you can look at what he did. What
he did was detrimental to Main Street, detrimental to the American
workers, very beneficial to corporate America, and very beneficial to
Wall Street.
When President Biden took office, inflation was at 1.4 percent. Since
then, prices have risen 17.9 percent. That includes a 28.6 percent
increase in electricity, a 20 percent increase in food prices, and an
18 percent increase in rent prices.
If you factor in inflation, wages have actually fallen 4 percent
since Biden took office. For 26 straight months, inflation has outpaced
wage growth. Last October, mortgage rates hit a 23-year high.
Today, Americans are spending just about $12,000 more per year just
to buy the basics. That is like coming and saying we are going to take
$1,000 out of your paycheck every month just to keep up with
Bidenomics.
{time} 1330
Who does that hurt? It doesn't hurt the executive working at
BlackRock that sends money to the Democratic Party. It doesn't hurt the
fat cats running corporations. It hurts the supporters and the American
workers. The base of the Republican Party is who pays the price for
this.
Mr. Speaker, for the Democrats to say that we are somehow concerned
with Wall Street, that is their party. We are worried about Main Street
on this side of the aisle.
Now, talking about Republicans not wanting to support our allies
abroad, maybe I was asleep last week when the Democrats voted down a
clean Israel aid package, because that aid package would have helped
our allies abroad. I am not sure who my friend is talking about when he
is saying we don't want to help our allies abroad.
It is very clear that we are the party who wants to support democracy
abroad because the LNG issue is one of the most beneficial things we
can do for our allies in Europe, in particular. Despite disaster after
disaster on the foreign stage, this could actually help alleviate it.
Let's talk about Biden's disasters on the international stage.
Biden's foreign policy has led to--and I will list it: a disastrous
withdrawal from Afghanistan that killed 13 Americans.
By the way, my friends across the aisle claim they care about women
and children, but do you know who is paying the price for Biden's
disaster in Afghanistan right now? It is all the women who had rights
when we were there, and all the children that now have to grow up under
the medieval-style rule of the Taliban.
Biden's disaster just didn't stop with Afghanistan. He also
emboldened Iran to unleash a proxy network that killed American troops
in the Middle East, along with three brave servicemembers lost in
Jordan from Iran's aggression. Also, the Biden administration has had a
failure to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from ragtag
Houthi
[[Page H606]]
rebels, which Biden delisted from the terrorist organization list.
This shouldn't be surprising, though. Former President Obama's own
Defense Secretary commented that Joe Biden has been wrong on every
single foreign policy decision he has ever made. I would submit to you
that this LNG export ban is in that list of decisions that Biden has
made for foreign policy that is simply wrong.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Pennsylvania just kind of
regurgitated a whole bunch of statistics. I am not going to rebut every
single one of them. He went through a whole litany of things that are
wrong with our country.
Here is a novel idea for Republicans: rather than just complain,
maybe actually try and find some solutions. If all the things the
gentleman says are problems that we need to deal with, then my
suggestion is to get about the business of passing legislation in a
divided Congress to fix them.
This is the least productive Congress, I think, in decades or maybe
even since the Great Depression. My friends have done nothing. They
have done nothing.
They come to the floor and they complain. This is not just a do-
nothing Congress, this is a do-nothing Congress over and over and over
again. We are doing reruns this week. We have dealt with this
legislation. This is the fourth time we are dealing with it, and I
predict we will probably deal with it a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, and
an eighth time before the end of the year when, hopefully, your
majority comes to an end.
I don't want to be lectured about jobs from somebody who supported
Donald Trump, who when he was President, had the worst jobs record
since the Great Depression. I don't want to be lectured about blue-
collar workers. I come from an area in Massachusetts where we actually
stand proudly with our unions, something that my Republican colleagues
fight against every single day in this Chamber.
I will just give some friendly advice to the gentleman based on the
results of last night's election, which my Republican friends were
predicting a victory, but I am saying that the reason why you did not
win last night is because people think that what you are doing is not
the right thing.
Your ideas are unpopular, and they are sick of the incompetence and
the inaction. They are sick of the complaining and no solutions. You
complain about the border. Democrats and Republicans work together in
the Senate to come up with a bill. Maybe it is not everything you want,
but it was negotiated by some pretty conservative, rightwing
Republicans. Rather than bring it to the House floor so we can have a
debate and a vote, the Speaker and Republican leadership says it is not
allowed to be considered on the House floor.
Again, the gentleman talks about national security. None of us can
understand the game the Republicans are playing with Ukraine. How can
you do this to the Ukrainian people, playing into the hands of Vladimir
Putin? Are Republicans cheering a Putin victory against Ukraine? If so,
that is sick.
The Senate passed this in an overwhelmingly bipartisan manner, and
the Speaker said it is dead on arrival. We can't even consider it here.
I just want to also say, because I think it is important for the
record, that last night in the Rules Committee, Ms. Scanlon of
Pennsylvania offered an amendment to the rule to make in order
amendment No. 2 to H.R. 7176, offered by Representative Houlahan, which
requires the commission to deny applications with regard to covered
foreign countries including China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran, as
well as foreign entities owned by, controlled by, or subject to the
jurisdiction or direction of the government of those countries.
Do you know what happened, Mr. Speaker? It was defeated 4-9. Mr.
Burgess, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mrs. Fischbach, Mr. Massie, Mr. Norman, Mr.
Roy, Mrs. Houchin, Mr. Langworthy, and Chairman Cole all voted ``no.''
They all voted against making that amendment in order, which would have
made sure that none of these countries that I just mentioned would
benefit in any way, shape, or form.
Sometimes we come to the floor to debate these issues, and I am not
quite sure whether we are dealing in reality or an alternate universe.
The bottom line is, if the gentleman cared about the things he just
said, why couldn't we make this amendment in order and have an up-or-
down vote on it? Why was this such a radical idea? Why was this such a
bad thing to do?
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Ryan), a great colleague.
Mr. RYAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I don't get up very often and speak much on the floor,
to be honest. What I heard in the few minutes here from my colleagues
is, as the gentleman from Massachusetts said, the greatest hits, the
recurring talking points over and over and over that are completely
disconnected from where constituents in my district, in the Hudson
Valley of New York, are on a whole host of issues.
These are people who want us to actually fix problems. Specifically,
they are people who want us to stand up for freedom and democracy in
the face of rising authoritarian access around the world. Instead of
doing any of that, we are debating these same bills over and over and
over.
We should be voting right now to stand strong with our democratic,
small d, allies around the world from Europe to the Middle East to the
Indo-Pacific. I am not going to read this letter, but as I was walking
here, I received a letter from one of my constituents, an 18-year-old
young man--I am not going to say his name and embarrass him without his
permission--from Warwick, New York, who I had the incredible honor to
nominate to the United States Military Academy at West Point, my alma
mater. All of us have been giving these nominations to great American
young men and women who, even in the time of incredible risk and danger
around the world, are willing to stand up.
He said: I now fully realize why I want to serve my country; why I
need to serve my country.
How are we going to send our young men and women in uniform into
harm's way without looking them in the eye and saying: We stand for
something. We stand for democracy. We stand for freedom. That is why I
signed up and raised my right hand and took the oath as a commissioned
officer in the United States Army.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania). The time of the
gentleman has expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New York.
Mr. RYAN. Mr. Speaker, by ignoring the bipartisan Senate bill to
provide support to our allies, instead of keeping faith with our allies
in Ukraine, who have stood proudly and strongly against all odds and
against all expectations, and who continue to do so, instead of voting
to send them the support they need, to have our allies' back, we are
debating this same stuff over and over.
We all know why. It is at the direction of one former President for
political, selfish reasons, the same person who called my brothers and
sisters in arms suckers and losers. He is now the puppet master as
Putin gets every single thing he wants.
How can I look this young man and all the people who we are sending
to all of our service academies in the eye, when we can't even have a
vote? If you don't want to vote for democracy and freedom, fine, but at
least be proud enough and brave enough to stand on the floor of the
House of Representatives and let your constituents know that.
Mr. Speaker, I won't use the full balance of the time that the
gentleman yielded. I just strongly urge all of my colleagues, not as
partisans, not as politicians, but as patriots, demand a vote on this
bill and stand and be counted.
Let us stand with our allies in Europe. Let us stand with our allies
in the Middle East against Iran. Let us stand with our allies in the
Indo-Pacific. That is what we owe the American people.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
[[Page H607]]
Mr. Speaker, again, there is a lot to rebut there.
If the gentleman wants to talk about Trump and foreign policy, let's
talk about it.
It is not a coincidence that under the Obama administration, you had
an aggressive Russia moving into Crimea. Then you have 4 years where
Russia does not invade any of their neighbors. Then enter Joe Biden and
the radical Democrats, and Vladimir Putin senses the weakness of Joe
Biden and invades Ukraine.
I will take President Trump's record on the foreign stage over Joe
Biden's record any day of the week. Furthermore, to suggest that
President Trump doesn't care about the military and about advancing
American interests abroad, I would remind the gentleman--maybe he
forgot--that it was President Trump who took out Soleimani. It was
President Trump who took out al-Baghdadi. It was President Trump that
debilitated and destroyed ISIS. It was President Trump who brought
forward the Abraham Accords that actually brought the promise of peace
and stability to the Middle East.
I will take President Trump's foreign policy any day of the week, as
would probably the Ukrainians, the Israelis, and the Taiwanese people.
Now, the comment about this bill benefiting authoritarian regimes, it
is completely the opposite. If we limit our export of LNGs, the demand
for LNGs abroad is not going to go away. That is fantasy land.
Our allies will still need liquefied natural gas, but instead of
having the benefit of buying it from places like Pennsylvania and
Oklahoma, our allies will have to buy it from places like Russia,
Tehran, and Venezuela, for example.
So who are you supporting when you ban the export of LNG? I would
submit to you that you are supporting the authoritarian regimes that
you proclaim to despise.
Now, my friend and colleague--and I do consider him a friend--from
Massachusetts made a comment that we are operating under a different
set of facts. It is like we are looking at two different fact patterns.
That might be right, but I think we are looking at two different
decades.
Again, this is no longer 2006. This is a new Democratic Party. This
is a Democratic Party made up of radical extremists, leftists, and the
Republican Party has also shifted.
There was a comment about union jobs. It is pretty clear where the
Democrats stand on union jobs when literally on day one of the Biden
administration, right out of the gate, he cancels the Keystone XL
Pipeline.
Do you know how many union jobs were lost? There were over 60,000
union jobs lost.
So the guy that is driving the EV to the yoga class, he might be
happy that the Keystone XL Pipeline went down, but that is the guy that
has the ``Ridin' with Biden'' bumper sticker on his car.
{time} 1345
The guy that is actually driving to work in a truck, that is the guy
who is voting Republican, so a different set of facts. I suggest a
different decade. It is a new Republican Party, and it is a new
Democratic Party, for sure. Those union workers are voting Republican.
Let's talk about what we have done in Congress so far. It is hard to
prove a negative, but in some ways we can talk about the rush to the
Green New Deal and us preventing a rush to the Green New Deal. If the
Democrats were in power right now, we would be all in on the disastrous
policies of the Green New Deal, which does nothing but benefit China.
However, because we are in the majority, we have been able to stop
extreme left positions and ideas.
Again, let's go back to the Green New Deal. The path forward for the
Green New Deal has been propped up by adversaries like China. Why is
that? It is because we rely on China for critical minerals. We need
those critical minerals to build everything from an electric vehicle to
a solar panel to windmills.
Biden's administration, by the way, openly admits this. According to
his own Secretary of the Interior, the administration's rush to green
policies has furthered our dependence on China. She said that in a
hearing, by the way, in the Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on
the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. She is right about
that. China accounts for 63 percent of the world's rare earth mining,
85 percent of rare earth processing, and 92 percent of rare earth
magnet production.
While Democrats hamper our domestic energy production, China is busy
emitting more greenhouse gases than the U.S., the entire EU and Japan
combined. China is the one that is bringing two coal-fired power plants
online every week, two a week.
It is clear when the White House and congressional Democrats push for
the Green New Deal, they are actually absolutely colorblind. What they
really are pushing for is a red new deal that benefits our number one
adversary, China.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 12
minutes remaining.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Boy, that is a lot to try to wrap my head around, listening to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania. This is not just reruns week in terms of
legislation. It is reruns week in terms of talking points.
The previous President, Mr. Trump, who my Republican friends are so
enamored with, let me just remind you of some of what he was all about.
He called President Xi brilliant. He said he got love letters from
Kim Jong-un of North Korea, and then he said: ``We fell in love.'' Who
says that?
He says Prime Minister Orban is one of the strongest leaders in the
world.
He can't say enough nice things about Vladimir Putin. While he was
President, Vladimir Putin was planning his invasion of Ukraine.
The other day, Donald Trump said, do you know what? If NATO doesn't
do what I want, then I don't care whether or not Putin invades them.
Who says that?
Biden has united the world against Putin's aggression in Ukraine.
Rather than helping Ukraine stand up to Vladimir Putin, my friends on
the other side of the aisle are basically giving him a gift. They are
denying essential aid to help the Ukrainian people repel a violent and
vicious attack by Vladimir Putin.
What is wrong with this place, Mr. Speaker, that this is where we
are?
I don't know whether my friend from Pennsylvania supports the
Ukrainian people in their struggle to prevent Russia from invading them
or not. If he does, then he should join with us and say let's have a
vote. I mean, they are literally down to bullets.
Putin is ecstatic. Putin is thrilled that the Republican leadership
in this Congress is holding up aid that will prevent Ukraine from being
able to repel a Russian invasion. Putin is thrilled.
Please, give me a break.
Putin is a thug. He is a dictator. He is trying to re-create an old
empire. The idea that people in this Chamber are sitting by and saying,
okay, do whatever you want, I never ever thought we would ever get to
this point, but here we are.
We are debating a bill for the fourth time that is going nowhere, and
my friends are pretending like it is some big deal. It is a nothing
burger, yet we can't bring legislation to the floor to help the
Ukrainian people.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I remind my friend across the aisle that when President
Trump was naming those world leaders, those world leaders were actually
alive.
Let's talk about Ukraine aid. I don't know if my friend knows my
record, but it is pretty hard to find someone who is more hawkish on
Russia than me. The difference with my position is I am consistent. My
friends across the aisle are not.
It is amazing. The same people who are calling for a blank check for
Zelenskyy, saying it will take as long as it takes, those are the same
people who are telling our allies in Israel who are under attack every
single day from the north, south, and west that they need an off-ramp,
that they need to
[[Page H608]]
turn it down. They are the ones who voted against a clean Israel aid
package just last week.
I am very proud to be consistent. I don't like Russians in Ukraine,
and I also don't like Hamas attacking Israel. I wish that consistency
were across the aisle. I think my friends, though, are too beholden to
their radical, anti-Israel, far-left base.
If we want to talk about Biden failures, there is more than just
foreign policy. Let's talk about the border crisis. Joe Biden and
Secretary Mayorkas, I would submit to you, have intentionally left the
southern border open. Under President Trump's leadership, America never
had a single month of over 150,000 illegal border crossings. It never
crossed that threshold. Do you know what that number is under Joe
Biden? Thirty-four. It is as if he is intentionally leaving the border
open. This is an absolute dereliction of duty by Mayorkas and Joe
Biden, and it is because they are beholden to their far-left radical
extremist base.
Just how bad is this? Let's be clear. On day number one, this
administration put in motion a border agenda that endangers our
national security, exacerbates our fentanyl crisis, and puts our
communities at risk.
Do you want to talk about more numbers? Every single day, roughly 300
Americans die of fentanyl overdoses. It happens every day. That would
be like a commercial airliner once a day going down and my friends
across the aisle not caring or saying anything about it. It is amazing
the silence on the fentanyl issue.
It didn't have to be this way. Joe Biden could have had remain in
Mexico. He could have had catch and release. He could have done
numerous executive orders that President Trump did, but Joe Biden,
Mayorkas, and, again, the extreme radical Democrats have refused to do
anything to secure the border.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Langworthy), my good friend, to add more.
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule and
the underlying legislation, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential
Act.
The decision by the Biden administration to halt the export of
American LNG will only further cripple our economy by killing good-
paying jobs, driving energy costs even higher for hardworking families,
and inflicting more pain on American businesses.
We cannot cut off LNG exports, regulate natural gas out of existence,
and lock away America's natural resources without inflicting enormous
long-term pain on American families and communities.
The Department of Energy announced that this ``pause'' on LNG exports
allows for the Department to assess the impacts of these exports on
climate and consumer costs. Yet, with this pause in exports, Americans
are expected to see gas prices soar, making it more expensive than ever
for hardworking families and businesses, big and small, to survive in
the Biden economy.
A pause in shipping LNG to our closest friends and allies in Europe,
Asia, and elsewhere further emboldens our greatest adversaries on the
world stage. At a time when the President is pushing for more funding
for Ukraine, it is disingenuous that he is turning around and forcing
our allies to rely on Russia for natural gas.
This pause is incredibly shortsighted, and it undermines everything
this country stands for. It is absolutely disgusting that President
Biden has chosen to appease the woke mob that runs his party instead of
doing what is right for our Nation. The American people are sick and
tired of Biden's America last policies.
We must end the Biden administration's all-out war on American
energy. The future of our economy depends on it. For that reason, I
strongly support this legislation and the rule before us today, and I
urge its adoption.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
What the American people are sick of is all of this. I mean, the
disingenuousness of what is being said here takes my breath away.
The gentleman talks about the border. When conservative Republicans
negotiated a bipartisan border deal, and Donald Trump said we would
rather have it as an election issue than actually do anything, the
Speaker decided to pull it.
The same with our allies. The idea is that Vladimir Putin has
viciously attacked Ukraine, and my Republican friends are standing by
and cheering Putin on. I can't believe we are at the point we are at in
this Congress.
What the American people are sick of is this do-nothing Republican
majority, and they can't wait, quite frankly, to replace this current
regime, as evidenced by the election last night.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an
article from Newsweek titled: ``Chip Roy Furiously Tears Into Fellow
Republicans.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
[From Newsweek, Nov. 16, 2023]
Chip Roy Furiously Tears Into Fellow Republicans
Chip Roy attacked his fellow Republicans in a surprising
speech on Wednesday.
Speaking on the House floor, the Texas Republican and
Freedom Caucus member accused his own party of having done
``nothing'' with their majority in the House of
Representatives. They have 221 seats to the Democrats' 213.
He said: ``You know, we have had a tumultuous year of
sorts, but in the eyes of the American people, they've been
watching from afar wondering when this body, the people's
House, will stand up in defense of the people who send us
here.''
``When are we going to do what we said we would do?'' he
continued.
His attack comes amid internal divisions in the GOP, which
led to the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in
October. Mike Johnson was elected as the Speaker of the House
later in the month, but it took four ballots of voting.
The House has just averted a government shutdown by passing
a short-term funding bill, but 93 Republicans voted against
it, in part because it did not include the spending cuts they
wanted.
``For the life of me, I do not understand how you can go to
the trouble of campaigning, raising money, going to events,
talking to people, coming to this town as a member of a party
who allegedly stands for something . . . and then do nothing
about it,'' Roy said.
``One thing: I want my Republican colleagues to give me one
thing--one--that I can go campaign on and say we did. One!''
He then asked Republicans to come down to the floor and
``explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing
the Republican majority has done besides, well, `I guess it's
not as bad as the Democrats.' ''
Reacting to a clip of the speech on X, formerly Twitter,
Matt Gaetz, a Florida representative, said Roy was
``correct.''
Campaign group Republicans Against Trump also shared a clip
and wrote: ``Republican Congressman Chip Roy just gave
Democrats their best campaign ad for 2024.''
Brian Williams, a surgeon and a Democrat who is running for
Congress in Texas, said: ``Never thought I'd say this . . .
but if you agree with Chip Roy, make a contribution to our
campaign to help flip Congress and put Republicans leadership
out of their misery.''
This is not the first time Roy has clashed with his own
party. Marjorie Taylor Greene took umbrage with him and 23
other Republicans voted who voted against. Greene's efforts
to censure Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib over her
response to the Israel-Hamas conflict. She was later censured
in another vote.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Roy took to the floor and said: ``One thing. I want
my Republican colleagues to give me one thing--one--that I can go
campaign on and say we did. One. Anybody sitting in the complex, if you
want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one material,
meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.''
Frankly, it seems like my fellow colleague on the Rules Committee and
I agree on something: The Republican majority has been useless. It has
done nothing unless you enjoy lurching from crisis to crisis or
peddling sham impeachments.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, let's refocus this debate on what we are here to
discuss, and that is LNG exports, making sure that we are exporting
clean liquefied natural gas to our allies abroad.
Let's talk about LNG export stats. In 2021, Russian gas accounted for
more than 40 percent of the European Union's gas supply. Today, roughly
10 percent of the EU's natural gas supply still comes from Russia, a
share that could be lowered further with U.S. LNG.
[[Page H609]]
In 2022, the U.S. surged more than 800 LNG cargoes to Europe, a 141
percent increase from 2021.
In December 2023, more than 87 percent of the U.S. LNG exports went
to the European Union, the United Kingdom, or Asian markets. U.S. LNG
has helped reduce natural gas prices in Europe by over 83 percent from
2022 levels, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
American LNG has 41 percent lower lifecycle emissions than compressed
natural gas from Russia. The Department of Energy estimates that LNG
exports could add between $50 billion to $73 billion--that is
``billion''--to the U.S. economy by 2040 and create between 200,000 and
500,000 jobs as well as increase downstream industries like
manufacturing. The top five importers of U.S. LNG are South Korea,
Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
By standing against LNG exports, you are reversing all this good that
is coming from it. You are making our allies more dependent on Russia.
You are hurting the environment because you are having our allies burn
Russian gas that is 40 percent dirtier than any LNG that is coming from
the United States. You are standing in the way of American jobs and the
American economy by the devastating impact of stopping our LNG exports.
However, don't just take my word for it. Let's go through some quotes
on LNG exports. Let's look at our European allies and what they say.
Here is what Eurogas said: ``If additional U.S. LNG export capacities
don't materialize, it would risk increasing and prolonging the global
supply imbalance. This would inevitably prolong the period of price
volatility in Europe and could lead to price increases with the
consequent implications that would have for economic turmoil and social
impact.''
Again, that is Eurogas. That is our European allies. That is not the
Republican Party saying this.
{time} 1400
Let's talk about the Directorate-General for Energy for the European
Union. The director said:
We do not have the abundance of energy sources in Europe.
We need to rely on partners in the United States, and we need
to become as resilient as possible within that reality.
Again, what the director of the EU is saying is if they don't have
LNG from the United States, they are going to go elsewhere.
Where is that elsewhere? That elsewhere is Russia.
Let's look at industry. My good friend Toby Rice, the CEO of EQT has
said: ``These types of executive orders send a chilling effect through
the industries and the investors.'' Again, that is Toby Rice, the CEO
of EQT, the largest LNG exporter in the United States.
The American Petroleum Institute, American Exploration & Production
Council, and other industry leaders have said: ``Any action to halt
U.S. LNG export approvals would be a major mistake that puts American
jobs and allies at risk while undermining''--wait for it--``global
climate goals.''
Let's end with our friends from across the aisle. What are Democrats
saying about LNG exports?
Well, Secretary of State Antony Blinken says: The U.S. is ``. . . now
the leading supplier of LNG to Europe to help compensate for any gas or
oil that it's losing as a result of Russia's aggression against
Ukraine.''
It stands to reason that if you want to help Russia and do exactly
the opposite of what Blinken is saying, you would stop LNG exports from
the United States.
Let's look at what Secretary Granholm has said. ``I believe U.S. LNG
exports can have an important role to play in reducing international
consumption of fuels that have greater contribution to greenhouse gas
emissions.'' That was Secretary Granholm, not exactly a right-winger.
Again, if you are against this bill, you are against all these
individuals that are speaking up for U.S. LNG exports.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Alford), my good friend, to add more to the conversation.
Mr. ALFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for
yielding me the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule and to address a
pressing issue affecting each and every American--our energy security.
You see, Mr. Speaker, energy is not a luxury. It is the bedrock of
our Nation's strength. It heats our homes, it cooks our food, and it
fuels our travels.
Yet, our energy independence is threatened as domestic energy
producers face unprecedented challenges. The pause on LNG export
permits empowers countries like Russia and Iran and hurts our allies
who depend on U.S. energy.
This is precisely why we need this legislation, Unlocking our
Domestic LNG Potential Act. We have witnessed a regulatory assault that
has stifled investment. It has spiked energy prices. It has hit
families where it hurts the most, in their pocketbooks and purses.
Remember, American-produced LNG is cleaner with 41 percent lower
life-cycle emissions than Russian gas, but now, because of a political
stunt by the President of the United States, our Strategic Petroleum
Reserve is at its lowest level since the 1980s.
This is just not an environmental issue. It is an economic and
security crisis. The energy sector supports millions of American jobs
and has been the engine of our economy, but the current policies risk
these jobs and our growth.
This is not about politics. This is about our very survival as a
Nation. We must act, and we must act now. We must support policies that
bolster American energy, support our American allies, and ensure our
American security. By doing so, we uphold the American legacy of
resilience and ensure a prosperous future for all American citizens.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, two quick things.
Let me correct myself. I said EQT is the largest exporter. They are
the largest producer in the United States.
Madam Speaker, I inform my friend across the aisle that I have no
more speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, my friend from Pennsylvania talked about his good
friend, some CEO of some LNG corporation that he is worried about.
You know what? I am more worried about the consumers in this country
who will see their energy costs rise, potentially, if this bill were
ever to become law.
I will make two quick points. This bill is going nowhere because it
is written in such a way that it will not get bipartisan support in the
House or in the Senate, and it certainly will not make it to the
President's desk and will not be signed into law. For the fourth time,
I will say that this bill is going nowhere, and this is a colossal
waste of time.
The second point I make is this Congress is doing nothing not only on
energy, but it is doing nothing on everything that matters to the
American people.
My Republican friends have spent more time electing a Speaker and
then replacing a Speaker and on useless, baseless impeachments than
they have on actually legislating.
Here is a radical idea. We get elected to Congress. We should work
together to try to pass legislation that becomes law, that will improve
the quality of life for the people we represent. That is something that
is foreign to my friends on the other side of the aisle.
Madam Speaker, it has become a familiar pattern by now. We have a
looming government shutdown. We have urgent issues at home that require
congressional action. We have pressing national security challenges and
wars abroad, and Republicans are wasting time on impeachment stunts,
silly censures, and MAGA messaging bills.
I mean, look. They have us here debating the same bill for the fourth
time. We can pass it 4 times or 400 times. It doesn't matter because it
is not written in a way that can become law in a divided government. My
friends won't admit that on the floor, but we all know it is true.
Meanwhile, the Senate is sending us bipartisan bills that Speaker
Johnson refuses to bring to the floor. The Speaker doesn't seem to
think that his job is to solve problems, but rather, he thinks his job
is to block bipartisan solutions.
We had a bipartisan immigration solution. It was blocked.
[[Page H610]]
Well, guess what? My Republican friends now own the issue. You are
responsible, solely now, for what is going on at the border. You are
responsible for the fentanyl crisis in this country.
We had a bipartisan bill that was passed in the Senate to help aid
our allies in Ukraine and in Israel. The Republican leadership is
blocking it, can't even get a vote. You are responsible.
Madam Speaker, my friends on the other side are responsible for
basically setting the world afire right now, creating all this
insecurity and potentially giving Vladimir Putin a free pass to go in
and invade Ukraine. I never thought we would be at this point.
The bottom line is this: Democrats want to work together with
Republicans to get things done. They seem to be able to do that in the
Senate.
I never thought I would ever say anything nice about the Senate, but
they are working in a bipartisan way. That is why President Biden had
us sit down and negotiate a bipartisan border deal.
That is why Democrats work with Republicans in the Senate to come up
with a bipartisan deal to address our national security challenges.
The Speaker of the House says: The House should work its will. Then
the Republicans refuse to bring bipartisan bills up for a vote on the
floor because they are afraid of MAGA, they are afraid of Trump, and
they are afraid that these bills will pass.
Having a campaign issue seems more important than solving a problem.
It didn't work for my friends last night. This idea that my friends
have about not solving problems, that somehow that is good for their
election chances didn't seem to pan out last night.
What Republicans need to realize is that they control one-half of one
branch of government and only barely.
They are not dictators--at least not yet. They have a two-seat
majority in the House--two seats--because the American people voted
against extremism last night.
This bill that we are talking about here today, the infomercials that
are being delivered on the floor, they are going nowhere.
The reason why my friends keep losing is they keep following the most
extreme Members of their Conference. People don't want the solutions
that Marjorie Taylor Greene brings before Congress.
They don't want a deranged former President who has been indicted
more times than he has been elected to be calling the shots here. They
want leaders that have vision, not petulant children that have nothing
to offer but division.
Madam Speaker, my Republican friends lost last night for the same
reason I believe you will lose in November. You have nothing to offer,
nothing at all, but division, chaos, and incompetence. This is just a
continuation of that.
What is happening here is we are debating trivial issues
passionately, but important ones, not at all. There are important
issues that we need to deal with and to debate and to legislate on
right now that affect the people of this country, that affect people
all over the world, and we are doing this--bringing back a bill for the
fourth time, a bill that we all know is going nowhere because it has
been written so poorly and in such a partisan fashion.
If my friends want to be serious about governing, you are going to
have to learn to work with us. It is that simple. Take ``yes'' for an
answer and work with us for the good of the American people.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Bice). Members are reminded to direct
their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield
myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, this administration's decision will have long-lasting
impacts on the workforce, including union jobs that my Democrat friends
across the aisle claim to care about.
It will also have long-term lasting impacts on our country's long-
term economic growth. That is why House Republicans will pass this
legislation, which removes Biden's export regulations that add
uncertainty to the market and that curtail production and decrease
global price volatility prices at home and abroad.
The underlying legislation lowers global emissions, strengthens
energy security, and creates thousands of family-sustaining jobs.
For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the
previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the
previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question are postponed.
____________________