Fighting Back Against President Biden's Unprecedented War on American Energy Producers

This Energy Week, the House of Representatives PASSED my resolution on a bipartisan basis condemning the Biden Administration's failed energy policies.

It is no secret that since day one in the White House, President Biden has consistently made energy decisions based on the agendas of the extreme climate lobby. His administration has consistently proposed and finalized regulations that increase the cost of energy for consumers, punish domestic producers, and increase reliance on our adversaries for our energy needs.

President Biden’s war on American energy is not one fought over science, but over ideology. The United States is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and has the ability to achieve energy dominance. We can produce affordable, reliable, and clean energy here at home.

I am proud to have brought this resolution to the floor alongside so many important pieces of legislation aimed at reversing the out-of-touch policies of this administration and getting our domestic production back on track.

This week, I participated in a hearing held by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water to hear Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testify on the fiscal year 2025 agency budget request. 

During the hearing, Secretary Granholm unsurprisingly refused to acknowledge the long-term implications of the Columbia River Systems Operation Agreement are a de-facto breach of the Snake River Dams. 

The preservation of the four Lower Snake River Dams is critically important to Central Washington, and for years, I have worked to combat environmental activists and dam breaching advocates efforts to breach them.

In December, the administration finalized an agreement in the Columbia River System Operations litigation. The agreement acknowledges only Congress has the authority to physically breach the dams, which I appreciated. However, it makes commitments to develop energy replacement for the dams as well as recommending spillage operations.

Congress has the sole authority to breach the Lower Snake River Dams, and I will continue to fight to ensure they remain in place.

Delivering Conservative Spending Wins

Today, I voted in support of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 that includes cuts in wasteful spending while boosting funding for the southern border and national security interests.  

I am proud to support these final government funding bills as a testament to what we set out to do; cut spending in wasteful areas and support our national security.

What we have here is a delivery on the promise we made last January to rein in the out-of-control spending that we’ve seen under one-party rule in D.C. No spending bill in the history of the Congress has been perfect, and none will ever be, but people sent us here to fight for a sense of fiscal sanity, and we delivered.

This legislation not only saved taxpayer dollars by averting a government shutdown, it also achieves conservative wins such as:

• Funding 22,000 Border Patrol Agents, which is consistent with H.R. 2 and the highest level ever funded, and provides $125 million for increases to Border Patrol overtime pay.
• Investing in new border security technology.
• Targeting resources to rural communities, like those in Central Washington, including vital telehealth and opioid response resources.
• Funding an increase in basic military pay over the next 20 years.
• Doubling security cooperation funding for Taiwan.
• Directing funding to critical national defense efforts, including countering the Chinese Communist Party, increasing counternarcotics efforts, and investing in quality of life for service members and their families.
• Taking back $10.2 BILLION from the Biden Administration, partially defunding President Biden's supercharged army of 85,000 IRS agents.

This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with proposed action on the question of introducing grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem.

This final EIS reveals the Biden Administration is more intent on pushing policies about Central Washingtonians than for them.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service held public comment sessions in my district where the overwhelming majority of voices, which I heard firsthand, were adamantly opposed to the introduction of grizzly bears. Their voices have been shut out of this entire process.

This administration’s blatant disregard for public opinion and their unwavering commitment to the whims of extreme environmentalists is proven by the announcement of their ‘preferred alternative.'

I am disappointed by this outcome, but remain committed to fighting back against this ill-conceived proposal.

This National Agriculture Week, I participated in a hearing held by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture to hear Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilisack testify on the FY25 agency budget request.

Every farmer and agriculture stakeholder I meet brings up the same first and most pressing topic: farm labor. One of the most significant costs is labor and in Washington, the Adverse Effect Wage Rate—which really should be called the Adverse Employer Wage Rate—is $19.25 per hour. We also spoke about my legislation, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would help alleviate some of the labor issues our producers are facing.

We also discussed the threat of foreign ownership of our agricultural land, which came to light following the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) report that the USDA was unable to answer the question of who owns what land and where and has no plan to reverse this dangerous flaw that affects our supply chain and economy.

Finally, we discussed the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that recommends relocating grizzly bears into the North Cascades—even though a majority of Central Washingtonians oppose the ill-conceived proposal.

As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, I am committed to continuing to advocate for our nation's producers, and will do whatever I can to ensure their priorities are considered.

Discussing USPS Legislation with the Washington State Association of Letter Carriers

Discussing the United States-Japan Alliance with Congressional Minister Ishigaki