Restoring American Energy Dominance Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I have sat in this Chamber, and I have listened to folks debate and raise concerns and problems about the legislation that is before us right now. I have heard people talking about how this is extreme, about how it is a gift to oil and gas production, and how it is going to trash the environment. There has been a poster that is up over there--and I am sad I don't have it right now--that said: polluters over people.

Mr. Speaker, we take an oath of office to stand up for this country and to defend the Constitution. We make a commitment to represent about 700,000 people each, 700,000 people, to represent their best interest.

So, Mr. Speaker, if the things that my friend from California (Mr. Huffman) was saying were accurate, then I would be outraged too, but the facts show a very different story.

I am from south Louisiana.

When President Biden took office, Mr. Speaker, do you know what gasoline prices were?

The lowest prices in our State were $1.74 per gallon on the day he took office.

Mr. Speaker, where do you find $1.74 per gallon anywhere?

If I can find it at $2.74, then I am going to fill up extra gas cans. Prices are outrageous.

Does somebody want to call AAA a partisan organization?

AAA says that the average gasoline prices in America today are $3.52 a gallon. This is outrageous. It is absolutely outrageous.

This has the biggest impact on those who can least afford it. People can't afford to fill up their vehicles. With higher energy prices, they can't afford to pay their utility bills. We have watched as food prices have skyrocketed and as housing prices have skyrocketed. Much of this is attributable to energy policy because everybody has got to drive, and everybody has got to air-condition their homes and heat their businesses.

Mr. Speaker, so what is the cause of all this?

The cause of this is exactly what this administration's policies are doing. We just heard my friend from Minnesota say that the average American family is spending about $1,000 a month more now than they were when Biden took office.

Everything we are hearing this administration say and my friends across the aisle talk about is that this is trashing the environment.

Let's look at the facts. The facts show that the United States, even under the Trump administration, actually led the world in reducing emissions, in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Biden administration, they have gone up, not down. They are going up.

What problem is the administration solving?

They are charging people higher prices. They are more dependent on foreign countries, and emissions are going up. They are having more of an adverse impact on the environment. I don't understand.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. I noted that the folks who have been speaking on this bill are from California. Let's take a look at the performance of California. Let's take a look at the performance.

Electricity rates in California are almost triple those in my home State. They are almost triple. Gasoline prices are approaching double. Emissions, they have the eighth worst emissions growth in America. California is the most dependent State upon oil from the Amazon rainforest. It is the most dependent State on imported energy, and it has the least reliable grid in America.

Mr. Speaker, who in the hell would want to thrust that upon their citizens?

This is a complete record of failure. Yet, it is the exact blueprint that this administration is following. It doesn't make sense.

This isn't about Republican, Democrat, Conservative, or Liberal. This is about math. It doesn't make sense.

All we are doing is we are creating a void that Iran is filling, that Russia is filling, and that Venezuela is filling.

Are they taking those dollars and doing things that are in America's interests?

No.

We have got to look at this globally. We have got to follow the math and the science as America has led the world in reducing emissions. We have led the world more than the next six emission-reducing countries combined, and we have ceded all of this energy void to China.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what has happened?

China has increased emissions five tons for every one ton we have reduced. It doesn't make sense.

I am not asking for Republican or Democrat policies. I am not asking for Conservative or Liberal policies. I am simply saying: Let's follow the math and follow the science and do what makes sense.

Folks are wondering: Why are my prices higher?

For one reason, this bill right here actually repeals higher royalty rates. Royalties are a percentage. They are not a hard dollar figure per barrel of oil or cubic foot of gas. It is a percentage. So as prices go up, so do the royalties. They have raised the percentage.

People are wondering why they are paying more money?

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Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. It is a percentage, yet this bill tries to come in and create a level playing field, create certainty, and create economic conditions that make sense.

My friends are sitting here saying: Oh, Big Oil is profiting.

They are profiting because the policies that the Biden administration is putting forth is resulting in conditions that cause prices to skyrocket. The thing that is so frustrating is that we had evidence that this is exactly what was going to happen. During the Obama administration the exact same thing happened, and I noted in the State of California the exact same thing happened.

I am just asking that we follow the math and the science. Let's support this legislation. Let's stop doing things that charge people unaffordable energy prices and trash the environment at the same time.

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