Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, today I rise on behalf of West Virginian workers, families, communities, and all hardworking Americans who will bear the burden of these onerous carbon mandates. The bipartisan resolution of disapproval, which I have introduced with my colleague Senator Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota and 47 other cosponsors, will block EPA's greenhouse gas regulation targeting existing power sources. I also strongly support Leader McConnell's companion resolution to block the regulations targeting new power limits.

As I was thinking about the speech today and as I rise to give this speech, I realize I have said many of these same words so many times before. I have expressed the same frustrations and spouted off similar statistics. What is the difference this time? The difference is we have already seen the devastating effects and the callous nature of regulatory overreach. We know what the new reality would be. The new reality would be what we are facing with these new carbon regulations: the reality of the families, the faces, and the hardships that we have already endured; the thousands of layoffs in my State of West Virginia that have already been issued; the jobs that have been lost and will never come back.

Just this morning, nearly 200 West Virginia coal miners in Randolph County were informed that their jobs will be gone by Christmas. Think about how those families will spend their Christmas holiday. Then consider how those realities will be magnified and felt throughout many households across the country if these carbon mandates move forward--the higher electricity bills that will result, the squeeze that already is squeezing struggling middle-class families who are living on fixed incomes, and the squeeze that those who live on fixed incomes will feel. Our most vulnerable will bear the burden. Consider the far-reaching effects these regulations will have on schools that are now seeing their budgets shrink, home values that are now on the decline, and fewer dollars that are available for public safety and law enforcement.

It is reality that the policies emanating from this government--from our government--are causing this destruction. This is not a natural disaster. This is not a fiscal crisis. This is not an uncontrollable event but a carefully crafted, precise, and very meditated assault on certain areas of the country. These are policies that help some States and truly hurt others, policies that target States like West Virginia and North Dakota where we produce some of the most reliable and affordable energy, and policies that are ripping the American dream away from families in my State and communities. Our families want and deserve healthy, clean air and water, and they want to live in a great environment. But policies from Washington that pit one State against another and prioritize certain communities and certain jobs over others are bringing the livelihoods of many to a halt. On behalf of Americans across the country, Members of Congress now have the opportunity to express our concerns with these carbon mandates. We have an opportunity to weigh in about whether these burdensome regulations should go into effect.

I believe that a majority of my colleagues understand the need for affordable and reliable energy, and that is why I am confident that Congress will pass these resolutions and place this critical issue of America's economic future squarely on President Obama's desk. With the international climate negotiations in Paris scheduled for December, the world is watching whether the United States will foolishly move forward with regulations that will do virtually nothing to protect our environment and will tie one hand behind our back economically. Even if the President vetoes these resolutions--and we recognize the likelihood that he will--passing them will send a clear message to the world that the American people do not stand behind the President's efforts to address climate change with economically catastrophic regulations.

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