Biden's Unilateral Executive Orders Are Harmful

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington and commend him for the great work that he has done with the Western Caucus and also here in Congress to be a voice for rural America and for these areas, like my district, that depend on Natural Resources.

Madam Speaker, our country is at a crossroads on the environment. One road leads to a vibrant, all-of-the-above energy approach, where we combine our state-of-the-art technology with hardworking American ingenuity and work ethic to incentivize smart environmental solutions.

The other road leads to a top-down regulatory approach in which those in power ban, tax, and prohibit energy access resulting in economic ruin and environmental degradation. It is clear which path President Biden has chosen.

With a stroke of a pen, he eliminated thousands of American jobs, put many more into jeopardy, defunded bipartisan conservation programs, and eliminated some of the safest, most reliable forms of energy production and transportation we have.

Let's not confuse action with progress. The data is very clear. America leads the world in environmental standards. If our goal is actually a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment--and I hope it is--then we should continue modeling these standards for the rest of the world to follow, while developing the technology of the future.

However, through his sweeping bans that killed the Keystone pipeline and shut down new energy leases on Federal lands and water, President Biden is merely shifting our current demand for energy overseas.

Let me make that very clear: Much as my Democrat colleagues might pretend otherwise, America's demand for oil and natural gas will not go away overnight. It cannot. Our infrastructure depends on it. So by shutting down one of our main domestic supplies, our supply will shift overseas, where we have no control over their environmental standards.

Put simply, President Biden's orders will hurt our environment in the long run and devastate our economy in the meantime.

So what is our alternative?

How about allowing the free market to work, like it always has. We have an innovative, pragmatic plan in place, unlike the Democrats' haphazard, shooting-from-the-hip approach. It is why I have submitted pro-growth solutions like the Trillion Trees Act.

Madam Speaker, we don't need to make hollow political points with no substance and no hope for success. We need an energy plan that looks to the future while taking care of the needs of today.

Democrats want to make us choose between a healthy environment and a strong economy. I am here to tell you we can have both. Actually, if we want a cleaner, safer, healthier environment, then we must have a strong economy. They go hand-in-hand.

I hope President Biden reverses this ban and puts our environment and America's economy first.

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