Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I call up the following amendments en bloc and ask that they be reported by number and be considered en bloc, along with amendment No. 2963, offered by Senator Murkowski: Cantwell amendment No. 3276; Klobuchar amendment No. 3302, as modified; Flake amendment No. 3055; Flake amendment No. 3050; Hatch amendment No. 3237; Murkowski amendment No. 3308; Heller amendment No. 3286, as modified; Vitter amendment No. 3075; Portman amendment No. 3168; Shaheen amendment No. 3292, as modified; Heinrich amendment No. 3155; Manchin amendment No. 3270; Cantwell amendment No. 3313, as modified; Cantwell amendment No. 3214; Vitter amendment No. 3266; Sullivan amendment No. 3310; Heinrich amendment No. 3317; Vitter amendment No. 3265, as modified; Kaine amendment No. 3012; Alexander amendment No. 3290; Gillibrand amendment No. 3004; Warner amendment No. 3233, as modified; Thune amendment No. 3239; Udall amendment No. 3221; Coons amendment No. 3203; Portman amendment No. 3309, as modified; Flake amendment No. 3229; and Inhofe amendment No. 3251.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on these amendments.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, we are back on the floor with the Energy Policy Modernization Act--an act that many of us have spent a considerable amount of time not only here on the floor discussing but, prior to its arrival on the floor of the Senate, working through a process that, quite honestly, I am very pleased to be able to report on.
As we have just heard, with the voice vote that we just took en bloc, we have accepted and adopted 29 additional amendments to this broad, bipartisan, and, as some would suggest, long-stalled Energy bill. We have been working on this now on the floor for more than 2 months. It actually first came to the floor on January 27 of this year. But we have seen patience, a little bit of persistence, and a truly good-faith negotiation. Last week we were able to clear the last of the objections to this bill and to define a path forward.
Again, we just reached unanimous consent on these 29 additional amendments. There will be eight rollcall votes this afternoon and then votes on cloture and final passage, and, hopefully, today we will see the last day of debate on our Energy bill.
Since we have been away from EPMA for so long, I wanted to start my comments this afternoon by reminding colleagues of the process we have followed and of the many good provisions we have incorporated within the bill that make it worthy of the Senate's support.
It began with a pretty simple and straightforward recognition; that is, that it was time--it was actually well past time--to update and reform our Nation's energy policies. The last time the Congress passed a major Energy bill was in December of 2007. So it has been almost a decade's worth of changes in technologies and markets taking place across the country.
Our energy space has changed, but what hasn't changed are the policies. The policies that we see are increasingly outdated and detached from the opportunities we need to advance good energy policy in this country.
So what did we do? We set out to write a bill. Our Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 is the result of more than a year of hard work by those of us who serve on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. It is the result of multiple listening sessions, multiple legislative hearings, bipartisan negotiations, and then a multiday markup that we held last July. At the end of that markup, we were able to approve a bill by a strong bipartisan margin--18 to 4.
The reason the bill passed out of committee with such strong bipartisan support was not just because of our commitment to a good process--and it was very clear that it was a good process throughout-- but we matched that good process with a commitment, an equal commitment, to good policy. We worked together across the aisle to include good ideas from Members on both sides of the aisle, from Members on the committee, and Members off the committee. Some of the things we agreed to include are going to speak to the input we received.
Senator Barrasso has led an effort that will streamline LNG exports. He was joined by 17 other Members. That is incorporated in our bill.
We agreed to include a major efficiency bill that the occupant of the Chair, the Senator from Ohio, together with the Senator from New Hampshire, have spearheaded for years. That bill was supported by 13 other Members and is incorporated as part of this overall Energy Policy Modernization Act.
We agreed to improve our mineral security. This is something I have been leading, along with Senators Heller and Crapo and Risch.
We worked to promote the use of hydropower--a renewable, emission- free resource that is favored by just about everybody in this Chamber.
We agreed to streamline permitting for natural gas pipelines. This was an effort that was led by the Senator from West Virginia, Mrs. Capito.
We agreed to a new oil and gas permitting pilot program. This was one of several ideas that the Senator from North Dakota, Mr. Hoeven, helped advance.
We have worked to improve our Nation's cyber security, based on legislation that was advanced by the Senator from New Mexico, Mr. Heinrich, as well as Senator Risch from Idaho.
We also made innovation a key priority to promote the development of promising technologies.
As part of that, we agreed to reauthorize some of the energy-related provisions that were contained in the America COMPETES Act, which was led by Senator Alexander from Tennessee.
We also agreed to reauthorize the coal R&D program at the Department of Energy. This was, again, based on another bipartisan proposal that was led by both Senators from West Virginia, Senators Capito and Manchin, as well as the Senator from Ohio who is occupying the Chair now, Senator Portman.
What we came away with was a substantive, timely, and bipartisan measure that has a very real chance of being the first major Energy bill signed into law in well over 8 years.
So this is important, for a host of different reasons.
Moving forward with this act will help America produce more energy. It will help Americans save more money. It will help ensure that energy can be transported from where it is produced to where it is needed. It will strengthen our status as the best innovator in the world, and it will bring us just one step closer to becoming a global energy superpower. It will do all of this without raising taxes, without imposing new mandates, and without adding to the Federal deficit.
That was our starting point here on the Senate floor back in January. When we came to the floor with the Energy bill, I think those of us on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee thought it was a pretty strong bill, but we have made it better. We kept building on it. Since the debate began, we have voted on a total of 38 amendments. We have accepted 32 of them, and we have added even more good ideas from even more Members to an already very bipartisan package. Right now, the Energy Policy Modernization Act includes priorities from 62 Members of the Senate. In other words, more than three-fifths of the Members of this body have contributed something to this overall bill, and that number will rise throughout the day as we process additional amendments.
One amendment I am particularly pleased with is the resources title that I have worked on and written with Senator Cantwell. We have agreed to a package of 30 lands and water bills which will address a wide range of issues in Western States. That package also includes the bipartisan sportsmen's provisions that we have been working to pass in this body for at least three Congresses. This is a measure that will ensure that our public lands are open, unless closed for a legitimate reason, to require agencies to enhance opportunities for our sportsmen on public lands and more. I want to recognize my colleague from New Mexico who has helped us with this endeavor in making sure the sportsmen's package was included as this bill moved forward.
It is true we were a little bit delayed in reaching the point where we are today as we are processing these final amendments, but I thank the Senate and the majority leader for sticking with us on this. At one point in time, it was suggested that we were going to have to pull a rabbit out of a hat in order to get this bill back on the floor with a consent process that would allow us to finish. Well, the rabbit has come out of the hat. Some might suggest it was a little bit battered, but, nonetheless, nobody gave up on this bill.
I acknowledge Senator Cantwell and her staff for working with us every step of the way. We knew we had a path forward. We worked tirelessly to find it because we know this is a bill worth passing.
Over the next couple of hours, Members will have an opportunity to deliver their final comments on the Energy bill, and after that we will move to these eight stacked rollcall votes, followed by votes on cloture, and then, hopefully, on final passage.
I am pleased to be able to say we will have wrapped up our work on this bill and send it over to the House of Representatives--again, hopefully, by the time we go home tonight.
I thank the Senate for working with us to get to this point, and I would encourage Members on both sides of the aisle to recognize the good work and the good ideas that are included within this bill. And when the time comes, I encourage every Member to vote yes on a broad bipartisan, good energy bill.
Mr. President, I recognize my colleague Senator Cantwell, the ranking member on the Energy Committee and a fabulous partner throughout this effort. I would like to thank her for all she has done to get us to this point as well.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, as my colleague on the committee pointed out, many individuals have made great effort and have made very positive contributions toward where we are today with this Energy bill. I wanted to note very quickly some of the groups who have weighed in throughout the process as we have sought input in different sectors across the energy space and really across the broader economy for some of the ideas in efficiency, supply, infrastructure, and accountability. When we look at the list of those organizations from around the country in different areas, I have a seven-page, single-spaced list in very small type of those who have weighed in in support of the measures we have in front of us today. From my State, it is everyone from the Department of Natural Resources, to the Alaska Power Association, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, the Cordova Electric Co-op, and a whole bunch more.
At the national level, we have support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Chemistry Council, the National Electric Manufacturers Association, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers-- and I am picking randomly.
We have support from labor groups--North America's Building Trades Union, the United Auto Workers, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters--who all weighed in with support for ideas that are included.
We have a huge coalition--from the Alliance to Save Energy, to Seattle City Light--that have focused on the work we have done with efficiency.
When we think about those who are focused on keeping the lights on, keeping fuel affordable, those who produce the materials that make modern life possible, groups such as the National Hydropower Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Mining Association, the American Exploration & Mining Association, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the American Public Power Association, and Edison Electric Institute--there is a long list of those who have weighed in in support. It is all over the board--the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the American Society of Interior Designers, the Nebraska Public Power District. The list is comprehensive and notable.
I want to be clear, not all in these groups agree with all aspects of the bill that we have in front of us. Those who support our work to streamline LNG exports might not necessarily be supportive of what we are trying to do to clean up the United States Code. But I think it is fair to say that to craft a bill that 100 percent of everybody likes is just not going to happen.
What we have in front of us today and what the Senate will now commence voting on is a bipartisan product that has gone through an extraordinary process in the past year, has been collaboratively built, and is an effort to modernize our energy policies in a smart way that uses common sense. It is not the government telling us what we shall do; it is doing it for the right reasons.
With that, Mr. President, we have come to the end of our 2 hours of debate, so we will commence with our series of rollcall votes that have previously been agreed to. Amendment No. 3234, as Modified, to Amendment No. 2953
Mr. President, at this time, I call up my amendment No. 3234.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote in this series.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Mr. President.
The amendment I have called up is an amendment Senator Cantwell and I have been working on. It is what we are dubbing our ``Natural Resources'' title. There are 30 different provisions--15 from the Republican side, 15 from the Democratic side. Nearly all of them have been reported from the committee. They have strong bipartisan support. It is a balanced collection of land and water bills.
We have included the sportsmen's bill, which we have heard talk of here on the floor, as it was reported from the committee with some additional provisions that came out of the Environment and Public Works Committee. It includes our open and less closed provisions to make sure our public lands and our national forests are accessible for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. We have included several land transactions involving the land management agencies, including some conveyances to correct Federal survey errors and to adjust boundaries. We have provisions to get more renewable hydropower online and keep existing projects operating in at least five different States. We also protect some treasured landscapes and rivers. We reroute a national scenic trail, and we authorize the National Park Service to study three sites to determine their national significance. So, again, it is a broad package, a package that is balanced, and a package that continues to add to the good in the overall Energy bill.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. If there is no further debate, I ask for the yeas and nays on amendment No. 3234.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Yes, all time on the Republican side.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, is all time yielded back?
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, if there is no further discussion on this amendment, I call up the Burr amendment No. 3175 and ask unanimous consent that it be modified with the changes at the desk.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. We yield all time back.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I appreciate the work of both Senators, who came together with a very commonsense amendment.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. 2012, upon reconsideration, be vitiated.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; further, that at 10 a.m., the Senate vote on passage of S. 2012, as amended.
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Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, this brings us to the end of the agreed-to votes on the amendments that required a rollcall, as well as the 29 various amendments that were accepted by voice en bloc. We have made extraordinary progress on a good, strong, bipartisan energy modernization bill. I thank colleagues for the process we have all engaged in today as we have worked to wrap up the final measures to allow us to move to final passage tomorrow morning.
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