It's been a busy week in Congress.
The House of Representatives debated H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act. This bill would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for reasons other than a severe energy supply interruption until the Secretary of the Interior issues a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters.
The President campaigned on a promise to end fossil fuels, and he has pushed his failed policies from day one—including cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline and telling the ten million workers who provide the energy our nation desperately needs that he doesn't want them to produce. In fact, not only does he not want them to produce, he has gone overseas begging global oil cartels for more energy.
Instead of calling on American workers, he used his own "political emergency" to drain the SPR to its lowest level in over 40 years.
These policies are completely disconnected from reality. We are now facing rolling blackouts where families may not have energy in the middle of the night. In places like California, that is standard practice.
Our Republican majority is in touch with the reality that every family is facing choices—and it starts with energy.
We are standing up to return the SPR to its rightful use for national security emergencies—not fabricated political emergencies. We must let our producers do what they do best and keep the government out of it.
I support this bill and stood in front of my colleagues on the House Floor to debate the many reasons we need this legislation. Watch my remarks here or below.
