Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise in opposition to H.R. 1435. Make no mistake, we are at a critical moment in history. The climate crisis is here, and over 100 million Americans live in counties with unhealthy levels of traditional air pollution.

Thanks to vehicle standards, incentives, and R&D policies, the U.S. auto industry is poised to lead the world in clean transportation innovation.

We should focus on supporting these policies, not weakening them.

Sadly, H.R. 1435 would toss aside decades of legal precedent, upending the California waiver process and threatening the innovation already underway.

Rather than restate what my Californian colleagues have said and will say about the history of the Clean Air Act and the importance of the waiver process to protecting public health, I want to look forward.

For over 100 years, America has been the greatest auto manufacturing nation in the world. This is largely because we have embraced innovation and we have embraced our skilled unionized workforce.

If we want to continue to retain this title, we need to embrace the changes that are occurring in that sector.

The transportation revolution is here. It is already creating jobs and reducing pollution, in large part thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

When we hear concerns about inadequate charging options, we need to remember that charging infrastructure is going to become much more widespread and better performing in the near future thanks to the $7.5 billion enacted in the infrastructure law.

When we hear about stresses on the grid, let's remember that there are tens of billions of dollars in the infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act to make our electric system smarter, more resilient, and, yes, more capable of meeting these new demands.

When we hear that clean vehicles will support China, let's acknowledge that this will only be true if we fail to develop our own domestic supply chains.

Just 2 weeks ago, DOE announced $15.5 billion in grants and loans to support retooling existing factories for the transition to EVs. This will be complementary to so many public and private investments that are enabling critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing here in the U.S.

We can continue to be the world's leader in automotive innovation for the next century, but only if we embrace the regulatory policies and the incentives that will drive us forward to a cleaner and healthier future, which is why I urge Members to oppose this bill.

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