Senate EPW Approves Six Bills, Four GSA Resolutions After Dems Walk Out of Morning Business Meeting

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R--Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, praised the passage of the following pieces of legislation today after a Senate EPW full committee markup:

S. 1324, the Affordable Reliable Electricity Now Act of 2015 (ARENA Act)

The ARENA Act, strikes EPA's recently finalized regulations for new, modified, reconstructed and existing power plants. The bill prevents the agency from mandating technology that does not yet exist for new sources and requires EPA to take into account and submit a report to Congress detailing the impact any future regulations issued pursuant to section 111 of the Clean Air Act will have on the climate as well as domestic and global emissions. This bipartisan bill, introduced by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) with 35 current cosponsors, also delays states from having to spend resources complying with any rule until after legal questions are settled and allows Governors of a state to opt-out of a rule if it is found to have adverse impacts on their local economies, energy systems and ratepayers.

"The Democrats' decision to walk out on the EPW Committee markup was a complete surprise, but it also affirms that liberal Democrats are not committed to addressing the flaws in the president's carbon mandates," said Inhofe. "Despite maintaining my tradition as Chairman to not restrict time on amendment consideration or comments on legislation, Democrats refused to allow the committee to operate in regular order in voting on the bipartisan ARENA Act, as well as six other pieces of legislation and four GSA resolutions. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito's ARENA Act has 35 cosponsors, and for two hours we considered Democrat amendments to the bill. Once it came time for the vote, Ranking Member Barbara Boxer completed the Democrats' walkout by voicing for the first time her desire for S.1500, an unrelated bill to the current debate, to be pulled from the committee markup. The ARENA Act is a common-sense, bipartisan piece of legislation that would send the Obama administration's carbon mandates back to the drawing board where it should be reconsidered with publicly available science and adequate public input. EPW Republicans proceeded to pass the ARENA Act at a 2PM business meeting which will now make it available to the Majority Leader for proper consideration and debate on the Senate floor this fall."

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