American Energy Independence

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to progress on a critical nationwide initiative: American energy independence. Energy is a bedrock industry of the American economic machine. Energy fosters innovation and has seen substantial leaps in efficiency, which have led to a dramatic expansion in scale.

To highlight the important progress our oil and gas producers have achieved, we need to look no further than my home State of Kansas, even just to think back to my childhood being raised up in Butler County, Kansas, which, during World War I, was the world's largest producer of oil.

Kansas has long been known for our production in agriculture and aviation. It is the spirit of innovation that has pushed Kansans to utilize their vast and diverse energy opportunities. The Wheat State is, in fact, a top-10 State for crude oil production and has the Hugoton gas area, one of the top-producing natural gas fields in the United States.

These factors give Kansas the opportunity to be a leader in the national effort to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. In fact, American energy exports now compete with Middle East oil for buyers in Asia. Daily trading volumes of U.S. oil futures contracts have more than doubled in the past decade.

I was reminded of the size of the export opportunity this past week when I was in Mexico City in NAFTA discussions. With improved delivery systems and more efficient extraction methods, the United States is now exporting more than 1.7 million barrels of crude oil each day, with an increase of 11 percent expected by 2019. The economic impacts of increased United States output are encouraging to everyone in the industry who has fought through tough times with low crude oil prices.

This expansion has shaved our Nation's oil imports by 20 percent over the past decade and provided 21st century careers in rural communities. Since the 2008 peak, we have lowered consumer prices for domestic gasoline by 37 percent.

Just a few short years ago, no one would have imagined the United States could have increased production of oil and natural gas while still cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which are now near 25-year lows, yet we have. These advancements are evidence of the ingenuity of our producers. Further, they show that we have balanced energy production and environmental stewardship.

For the first time in generations, American energy policy is focusing on domestic production, global leadership, and economic opportunity. And that is something worth recognizing.

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