Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Chair, Republicans' polluters over people act is a disaster of a bill. Not only does this legislation prioritize massive giveaways to Big Oil, gas corporations, and mining companies, but it sells out hardworking families who want nothing more than to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

If Republicans are successful in making this legislation law, those corporate polluters will deplete our natural resources and destroy millions of acres of wildlife, and they will do it for pennies on the dollar. New pipelines will be constructed without the input of critical Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.

These massive corporations could be exempt from lawsuits when they spill toxic chemicals or contaminate our drinking water supplies.

This bill has the fingerprints of Big Oil lobbyists all over it.

Perhaps the most embarrassing part of this bill is how good of a return on investment it is for fossil fuel companies.

Last year, a Big Oil CEO admitted during an Energy and Commerce hearing to cashing in on stock he owned in his own company at a time when people were feeling maximum pain at the pump. He told me he did it at a 9 percent markup. That predatory behavior clearly hasn't swayed the authors of H.R. 1.

I would imagine that is because the same Big Oil corporations that stand to benefit most from this bill have donated millions to Republican politicians over the years. They will make that money back in a matter of minutes if this legislation becomes law.

Mr. Chair, Congress' job is to serve the hardworking folks that we represent, not pad the profits of oil barons who run ExxonMobil or Shell.

Mr. Chair, our constituents deserve better, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source