Providing for Consideration of H.R. Repealing of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting American Energy Production Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Restoring American Energy Dominance Act; Providing for Consideration of H. Con. Res. Expressing the Sense of Congress That A Carbon Tax Would Be Detrimental to the United States Economy; Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Denouncing the Harmful, Anti-American Energy Policies of the Biden Administration; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler) for yielding the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, today's rule provides for the consideration of a partisan package of pro-polluter energy and environmental bills. Half of these bills have already been considered by the House last year, and the other half are toothless resolutions simply declaring a sense of Congress, albeit a partisan sense of Congress. A package like this is what we have come to expect from this Republican majority in the House.

In the 118th Congress, Republicans can rarely find agreement with each other, let alone negotiate bipartisan legislation capable of being passed by both Houses and signed into law by the President. Therefore, what we get week in and week out are old bills chopped up and repackaged to give Republicans something to talk about for the week while we all wait for the next budget crisis deadline.

Republicans have run the House for the past 15 months and have used that precious time not to lead but to pick fights and air grievances. As my Republican colleague on the Rules Committee, the gentleman from Texas, keeps reminding us, House Republicans have nothing to show for their majority. They haven't done anything to address the most important issues confronting America.

Let's look at the record of this feckless Republican majority thus far.

House Republicans spent a month fighting with each other to pick a Speaker, only to kick out Kevin McCarthy a few months later and spend another month selecting the current Speaker.

House Republicans brought the country to the brink of fiscal calamity to extort a budget deal that they then failed to honor.

House Republicans walked out of a bipartisan deal to overhaul the immigration system after claiming it was their number one priority.

House Republicans are blocking bipartisan legislation to provide military aid to Ukraine and our allies.

Also, House Republicans are blocking a funding package for increased border security.

Although we hope to finish the 2024 budget this week, it is already 6 months late.

All of which is to say, this majority has done nothing. My Republican colleagues have squandered their majority. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have squandered the country's time and taxpayer dollars and have nothing to show for it.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation in this rule, if enacted, would be disastrous for our environment and would set back much of the progress we have made to tackle the climate crisis.

Legislation in this rule would make it easier for companies to pollute our water. These bills roll back important Clean Water Act provisions that prevent companies from dumping waste and harmful chemicals into our public waterways.

This rule would also make it easier for oil and gas companies to avoid responsibility for cleaning up drilling sites after finishing production. The rule would block efforts by the Biden administration to make Big Oil companies pay their fair share to remediate the environmental damage they have caused.

The rule would cut billions of dollars in funding to help communities like mine mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution. Time and again, we see that the Republican energy agenda means putting polluters and their profits over regular people.

Bills like this make my colleagues wonder just who exactly House Republicans represent. The vast majority of Americans support making energy and mining companies financially responsible for site cleanup. The vast majority of Americans want clean air and clean water. They want to protect their health, and they want their kids to have a healthy future.

Yet, these partisan Republican policies would mean more pollution in our communities so that Exxon and Chevron can boost their stock prices. That doesn't seem like a fair trade for the American people. We need to solve the climate crisis, not enable it. We need to put people over profits and polluters.

Congressional Democrats and President Biden are united behind that goal. In stark contrast to our Republican colleagues, Democrats have passed landmark legislation to combat the climate crisis, grow domestic energy production, and bring our energy infrastructure into the 21st century.

Democrats passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Combined, these bills used tax credits, lending programs, and public-private partnerships to invest billions of dollars in electric vehicles, renewables, energy production, and improvements to the electric grid.

This investment is growing our economy, creating good-paying jobs in green manufacturing, and helping to lay the foundation for the mass adoption of renewable energy sources. Already, the Inflation Reduction Act has created over 170,000 jobs, and it is projected to create more than 1.5 million jobs over the next 10 years.

The Inflation Reduction Act puts America on pace to cut our carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 so that we can meet our obligations under the Paris Agreement. The Inflation Reduction Act also caps abandoned oil wells, cleans up Superfund sites, and provides funding to communities to mitigate the effects of industrial pollution.

In the long run, the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure bill will save American families up to $38 billion on electricity bills, reduce industrial and manufacturing emissions, double the share of American electricity generated by renewables, and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.

That is what a real energy agenda looks like. It is not grandstanding, and it is not handouts to oil and gas companies.

The Democrats' energy initiatives and agenda have been wildly successful. Right now, the United States is the number one energy producer in the world. We produce more energy from both renewables and fossil fuels than any other country. This is directly translated into lower energy prices for Americans, more jobs, and higher economic growth, and it has allowed us to provide natural gas to our allies in Europe who have been squeezed by a belligerent Russia.

Under President Biden's leadership, the United States is more energy independent today than at any time in our history. This is an amazing achievement and one that should be celebrated by this Chamber.

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, we keep being presented by a false choice here--a choice between being environmentally responsible and having economic opportunity, and that is just not true. We can do both.

7023.

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Ms. SCANLON. They write, ``This bill contains several misguided attacks on clean water and the Clean Water Act, puts polluter profits ahead of public health, and would jeopardize the waters that our families, communities, and wildlife depend on.''

H.R. 7023 is clearly not the answer.

6009.

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Ms. SCANLON. 6009.

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, this letter reads, in part, ``The current leasing system and onshore oil and gas program is antiquated and does not offer proper oversight or ensure protections and fair returns to American taxpayers. Energy Independence Soars to Highest Level in Over 70 Years.''

Mr. Speaker, it is a little bit difficult to believe these crocodile tears for our allies when the House Republicans are holding up the National Security Supplemental, which passed weeks ago in the Senate by a 70-30 vote, it is broadly bipartisan legislation that our allies deserve an up-or-down vote on, and we should see that on the floor today.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to energy, House Republicans are also presenting us with a false choice. They would have us believe that renewable energy and energy independence are at odds. They want us to think that sustainability and a strong economy are a tradeoff. It is simply not true, and we cannot afford to make this false choice.

As we have seen with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, we can have it both ways. We can lower emissions while creating jobs and growing the economy. We can make the transition to solar and wind without displacing businesses or workers.

The Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure bill demonstrate that not only does a green transition come hand in hand with economic growth, but also that that growth can be spurred from the middle out and the bottom up.

All over the country, new manufacturing facilities for batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles are being built. These factories are offering long-term, good-paying jobs that will drive economic development for years to come. It is an American manufacturing renaissance that has been made possible by legislation passed by Democrats and President Biden.

It is a testament to what is possible when legislators roll up their sleeves and solve problems as opposed to playing to their most extreme Members. That is what real leadership looks like.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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