Unlocking Our Domestic Lng Potential Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7176. Of all their incoherent energy policies, the Biden administration's de facto ban on all pending approvals for LNG exports is among the very worst ideas in their ongoing attack on American energy.

I challenge anyone in the Biden administration to string together and communicate a cognitive and defensible argument for how the ban benefits the environment, the geopolitical landscape, the U.S. economy, our allies, or our national security.

This ban damages all those things while lining the pockets and strengthening Vladimir Putin and OPEC.

To paraphrase ``Billy Madison,'' at no point has this administration in their rambling, incoherent energy policies been even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having listened to it.

American natural gas is the cleanest, safest, and most ethically sourced on Earth. American energy, and certainly American natural gas, is not our enemy. If the administration would simply read and comprehend our government's own data, they would realize American energy, and especially American natural gas, is the solution, not the problem.

We should be producing and exporting more while we develop a sound all-of-the-above energy policy that focuses on reliable, affordable, and clean energy.

U.S. Government data shows that since 1990, our economy has grown 791 percent, our vehicle miles traveled have increased 113 percent, our population has grown 47 percent, and our energy consumption has grown 29 percent. Mr. Speaker, thanks in large part to American natural gas, during this time of huge growth, our emissions have decreased 60 percent. A large part of that is due to our innovations in fracking and producing natural gas.

I am proud to support this legislation to repeal the Biden administration's shortsighted restrictions on the export of U.S. natural gas and further U.S. leadership and emissions reduction, strengthen our economy, and bolster energy security for the U.S. and our allies.

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