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The Republican Recap: Week of March 27, 2023

Here’s a recap of what Republicans achieved on the House Floor this week:

Unleashing American Energy and Lowering Costs for Families ✅
 
American families are struggling as energy prices soar, raising costs at the pump, in electricity bills, and in the grocery store – all because of the Biden Administration’s war on American energy.

Still, President Biden continues to make it nearly impossible to produce energy in America with burdensome regulations, instead turning to foreign dictators like Putin for our energy needs, even though the United States makes it cheaper and cleaner than anywhere in the world.

H.R.1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, reduces expenses across the board for American families by unleashing American energy and restoring our energy independence.

“From the day he took office, President Biden has waged a war on American energy, and hardworking families are the ones paying the price: since President Biden took office, energy costs have hit record highs with gas prices up 51 percent and household electricity prices up 24 percent, while real wages are down 4 percent. And yet, President Biden continues to drive inflation sky-high by blocking American energy production with red tape while begging hostile foreign countries like Russia for oil. America can and should be energy independent – we have the technology to produce our own energy cleaner and more efficiently than anywhere else in the world, while lowering costs for hardworking families. The Lower Energy Costs Act will increase American energy production, reform our broken permitting process, reverse the Biden Administration’s radical anti-energy policies, streamline our energy exports and imports, and boost the mining of critical minerals. 
 
“Voters awarded House Republicans with the majority in Congress to fight President Biden’s radical energy policies and lower costs for American families, and today, we are working to make that a reality. With this bill, Republicans have made energy security and lower costs our number one priority this Congress, standing up for hardworking Americans against Biden’s radical energy agenda. By passing H.R. 1, the 
Lower Energy Costs Act, House Republicans are following through on our promise to unleash American energy and restore our nation’s energy independence. 

“I want to thank Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Sam Graves for all of their hard work in getting this bill over the finish line. Now, it’s time for the Senate and President Biden to do their jobs and work with us to lower energy costs for American workers and families, instead of continuing their anti-American energy crusade,” 
said Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

“Republicans are prioritizing the American people over the Democrat’s radical climate agenda. On his first day in office, President Biden started the war on American energy. He has revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, imposed a moratorium on oil production on federal lands, directed agencies across the Federal government to impose punitive and burdensome regulations, and made us more reliant on China. Predictably, gas prices skyrocketed to the highest levels in American history. People are counting on us to improve their quality of life. H.R. 1 delivers on that promise and will ensure America continues to lead the world at reducing emissions. I commend the passing of this package, which will boost energy production, lift regulatory burdens for the construction of more energy infrastructure, cut China out of our critical materials supply chains, and lower costs across the board. H.R. 1 is how we build a better and more secure future for all Americans,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

“The Lower Energy Costs Act is a massive win for the American people and a much-needed boost for our economy. House Republicans know that when we produce energy here at home, we do it cleaner, safer, and more efficiently than anywhere else in the world. This legislation will provide a framework for streamlining the federal regulations holding back domestic energy producers and will usher in a new era of American energy independence and mineral security. Thanks to Speaker McCarthy and Leader Scalise, hardworking Americans can rest easy knowing we’re putting the U.S. back in the driver’s seat on global energy production and keeping the lights on across the nation,” said Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman. 

“The 
Lower Energy Costs Act is critical for so many reasons — from increasing domestic energy production, to encouraging the production of critical minerals, to modernizing the NEPA process to ensure energy and other infrastructure projects can move forward. This bill does exactly what the bill title says. It will lower energy costs for American families, farmers, and businesses by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to critical energy projects and by increasing our energy independence, all while continuing to protect our environment. Key contributions from Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Members will prevent federal water regulations from being abused to block needed energy projects and will apply One Federal Decision streamlining reforms to pipeline projects. Energy costs remain unbearably high for too many Americans, and this bill will make a real difference,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves.

What Members Said:

“Instead of recognizing that his failed policies were causing prices to increase, the [Biden] administration called on countries like Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations for relief and authorized historic releases from our strategic petroleum reserve to manipulate the markets. To the surprise of no one, all of these gimmicks failed and the American people have paid the price. That ends today. H.R. 1 represents the culmination of our early efforts to solve the problem of lowering energy costs. It will increase domestic energy production, reform restricted and costly permitting processes, reverse the Biden Administration’s anti-American energy policies, and boost the processing and production of critical minerals,” said Congressman Bob Latta.


Click here or on the image above to view Rep. Latta’s remarks.

“From the smartphone in your pocket to batteries needed for storing renewable energy, it’s unacceptable that the United States is currently so reliant on China for critical products. The pragmatic permitting changes in this bill protect our national security by reducing our reliance on the Chinese Communist Party. These changes also create opportunities for public-private partnerships on energy construction projects,” said Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer.


Click here or on the image above to view Rep. Chavez-DeRemer’s remarks.

Rep. Lisa McClain touted the passage of the Lower Energy Costs Act as a win for American energy independence. 
 

 
Rep. Ralph Norman slammed Democrats for voting against lowering costs for American families.