Providing for Consideration of H.R. 351, LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 48, the rule for H.R.
351, the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act.

During the 113th Congress, identical legislation to H.R. 351 passed
the House of Representatives as H.R. 6, the Domestic Prosperity and
Global Freedom Act. Long before its passage, the bill moved through the
entire legislative process at the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce. This process included a hearing as well as an eventual markup
at the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. A subsequent full committee
markup followed, and the bill was placed on the Union Calendar.

The House Committee on Rules then established H. Res. 636, the rule
for consideration of H.R. 6. After that rule was adopted, the
legislation was debated, amended, and ultimately passed the House of
Representatives with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. The President
did not issue a veto threat.

The energy renaissance that has swept across America over the last
years has transformed the United States from an increasingly energy
dependent Nation--beholden to the whims of OPEC--to our current
position as the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

This transformation has provided us with a historic and unprecedented
opportunity not just to bolster our economy, but to also fully leverage
our energy abundance on the international stage by selling a portion of
our natural gas abroad.

Through this abundance of natural gas, America has an opportunity to
significantly affect geopolitics if we enact smart policies. It could--
and should--be a game changer.

Allowing the export of liquefied natural gas, for instance, will
create significant American jobs and wealth for the United States,
enhance our energy security, and provide a reliable source of fuel to
our allies, some of whom depend on the mood of Vladimir Putin to meet
their energy needs.

Unfortunately, our policies have not kept pace with the industry's
development. Producers seeking to export LNG face a constantly changing
approval process which costs millions of dollars and takes years to
navigate.

Not only does this undermine regulatory certainty, but with dozens of
projects seeking approval, Washington is making it difficult for
businesses to make the investment decisions needed to take advantage of
this abundant resource. This delays job creation here at home and
reduces our ability to positively influence global politics abroad.

My bill, the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act, aims to
address this growing problem by cutting through the bureaucratic red
tape and implementing a deadline on the Department of Energy to issue a
final decision on LNG applications.

Given the amount of time that has already passed since many of the
LNG export applications have been filed and their dockets closed, there
is no more information to consider and no reason for DOE not to adhere
to a deadline.

There is very real risk to inactivity. If Washington waits too long
to move forward with export licenses, other countries with their own
natural gas resources--Canada, Qatar, and Australia, to name three--
will step in to meet the demand. Our competitive advantage, along with
the opportunity to create more domestic energy jobs and serve as a
check on Russia, will be lost.

Numerous studies have found that LNG exports will create hundreds of
thousands of American jobs, many of them in manufacturing, including
the refining, petrochemicals, and chemicals sectors. ICF International
estimates that these jobs will occur across the entire value chain,
translating into roughly $1 billion in new wages for American workers
over a 6-year period.

Export terminals will also generate millions of dollars in new tax
revenue for Federal, State, and local governments, while increasing our
GDP and lowering the trade deficit.

It is worth noting that this won't come at the expense of domestic
consumers. The U.S. Energy Information Administration stressed that it
expects increased overseas demand for LNG will be met by the
development of new resources.

In fact, the DOE has concluded that each of the different export
scenarios considered ``are welfare improving for U.S. consumers'' and
would result in ``an increase in U.S. households' real income.''

The recent turbulence in Eastern Europe--and throughout the Middle
East--has shown all too clearly that energy can be used as a
geopolitical tool. Adding a new and reliable source of natural gas onto
the world market will diversify our allies' energy sources and greatly
reduce their vulnerability to a single monopolistic supplier.

I am proud to author this legislation. It is a job creator. It helps
America in leveraging the geopolitical stage across the globe. We have seen enough delay. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. I thank the Chairman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, right now, today, about 50 percent of Russia's revenue
comes from taxes on oil and gas. About 80 percent of that resource goes
through the Ukraine. The Ukrainian people are under tremendous
pressure, as are other European allies, by the Russians.

Regardless of where U.S. natural gas is shipped, increasing supply
and competition in the global marketplace will help provide
international consumers with greater choice.

In fact, a representative of the U.S. State Department made a similar
statement on the benefits of U.S. natural gas exports at a January 8,
2015, Atlantic Council forum. This is from the State Department:

Now, where the gas will go doesn't matter. The fact that we
have approved exports of natural gas has already had an
impact on Europe.

Just the fact that America is getting into the game has put the
Russians on notice that our friends and allies and people that they are
currently putting under pressure--the Ukrainians and others--are going
to have a choice, and it is going to make a different conversation
happen at the table.

Mr. Chairman, I hope that helped clarify it.

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