Relating to A National Emergency Declared By the President on March 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, all in 1 year, President Biden killed the Keystone XL Pipeline; he banned new oil and gas leases on Federal lands; then, of course, he ended up begging OPEC and Russia to produce more abroad and then gave the green light to Russia's Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. These actions diminished American energy security. It hurt our allies and empowered our adversaries. They put the United States and our partners in the crosshairs of Russia and Vladimir Putin.

At the State of the Union Address, I heard the President say we need more ``made in America,'' ``made in America,'' ``made in America.'' What I didn't hear him say was that we needed more ``made in America'' energy or more ``made in America'' oil and natural gas.

My bill, the Supporting Made in America Renewable and Traditional Energy Act, or the SMART Energy Act, will help get the United States back on track and ensure that our country will remain not only energy independent and energy secure but that it will become a global energy dominant player.

My bill supports an ``all of the above'' American energy portfolio. I want to emphasize that. It is an ``all of the above'' American energy portfolio. It doesn't exclude renewables; it includes renewables by requiring the Biden administration to restart oil and gas leasing and kick-start renewable energy development on Federal land and waters because now, more than ever, we need to be supporting American energy development to help lower energy costs for American families and support our allies.

Take a look at what is happening in Europe and Russia as it relates to energy prices and national security, all of which, of course, are interconnected. We should examine what Germany has done over the course of the last 10 to 15 years as an example of what not to do. By the way, it takes, I guess, a war on Germany's doorstep to suddenly provide clarity for the Germans to see, yes, they need to be increasing their investment in NATO. Now, they just in the last 2 weeks decided they are going to permit two new LNG ports. While looking in the rearview mirror, they shut down 11 nuclear plants, and they shut down coal plants. They were not moving forward with LNG plants. Instead, they wanted that Nord Stream 2 Pipeline built to Russia. Well, they have changed their thinking on it.

We can't let America get to that same point of following this path of the very dangerous ideology of shutting down ``made in America'' energy because, as Europe has continued to stop investing in traditional energy, they have become more dependent on adversaries like Russia for energy, and now, the cost of energy is skyrocketing. Sadly, this, indeed, is a sneak peek into the path that America is headed down if the Biden administration continues to stonewall traditional American energy development. We can't let this happen.

Listen, I support an ``all of the above'' energy portfolio. I am grateful I represent a State that has ``all of the above energy.'' We have bright skies; we have solar potential; we are a headwater State; we have amazing hydro resources; we have got winds that come off of our mountains for wind energy. Yet an ``all of the above'' approach includes not just renewables but oil, gas, nuclear, and coal.

That is why it is critical that we pass my bill today to promote renewable and traditional energy here in the United States. It is good for growing jobs, strengthening our energy security, supporting our allies, and keeping a reliable and cost-effective source of energy for the American people.

The question we should all be asking ourselves is, Do we want the world to be looking to Russia for energy or to the United States for energy?

My bill supports the latter, and I urge my colleagues to pass it.

3214 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, clearly, we have two different philosophies and strategies moving forward as we deal with the crisis that is unfolding in Europe and Ukraine.

We need more ``made in America'' energy. It is the Green New Deal, purely clean energy and not including an ``all of the above'' energy portfolio that I believe is a very dangerous direction to head, as we have seen exactly what Germany has encountered over the course of the last 10 years.

They marched down that path, and now, they find themselves in a very, very dangerous position. And they have had to reverse the course because they had the same kind of ideals that the Senator from Massachusetts was talking about. Now, they have had to wake up and look at the reality of the situation and change course.

By the way, it is not every inch. This bill simply says we need four lease sales. We are asking for a minimum of four lease sales. That is what we are asking for.

And when the President shuts down the Keystone Pipeline, shuts down oil and gas leasing in this country, combined with what we see going on with FERC being major impediments to building more pipelines, combined with nominees and those who have been appointed in the Biden administration and who are very anti-oil and gas, it chills the capital markets. This is a long-term direction we have got to continue to go down.

Again, this bill also includes wind, solar, and geothermal priorities as part of it. So it is all of the above.

I just think it is very dangerous to say we are going to bet the Nation's future on only one segment of the energy economy and not also ensure we have oil and gas and coal as part of our broader portfolio.

Just ask the Germans if they thought that was a good idea when they went down this path 10 to 15 years ago.

Thank you.

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