Biden's Assault on American Energy

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I ask that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials.

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, we are here tonight as members of the House Energy Action Team to discuss the Biden administration's assault on American energy.

His policies have hurt our constituents, and tonight, members of the HEAT team will talk about how these actions continue to harm their districts. The last 9 months have painted a portrait of what the Biden administration's energy policies mean for our country.

Madam Speaker, it is not a pretty picture. As we speak, Biden's allies in Congress intend to pass their $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, only making this situation worse.

Let's take the natural gas tax, for example. It will increase everyday Americans' bills by hundreds of dollars and destroy hundreds of thousands of American family-sustaining jobs. This will rob opportunity from the very communities that I represent in Pennsylvania and hundreds of towns just like this. And we will hear more about that this evening.

This tax is a solution in search of a problem, and it is creating that problem. The United States has led the world in reducing greenhouse emissions in the last two decades, and the energy industry is voluntarily reducing methane emissions.

Innovation is the ultimate answer to cutting emissions, and we cannot afford to stifle advancement. As a Nation, we cannot tax our way to a cleaner environment. And Americans are fed up with taxes. The biggest tax that our citizens are now facing is inflation. Across the board, prices are rising.

The energy sector is particularly worrisome with gas prices climbing 63 percent in my home State of Pennsylvania. This cost falls disproportionately on low-income Americans. It is not fair for them to foot the bill for the policy preferences of liberal coastal elites.

Let's take another example of the Biden administration's war on American industry. In their attempts to enact provisions of the Green New Deal, they have smothered American innovation. For years, our Nation has been at the cutting edge in nearly every sector of the economy. From cyberspace to advances in manufacturing, America has always stayed one step ahead of its competition. But that is starting to change.

American researchers and developers have always been able to count on the access to the resources needed to manufacture new pioneering products. But a rising China threatens that access.

Of the 35 essential minerals listed for the U.S. economic and national security, China is the top producer or top supplier of 23 of them. China controls the production of 80 percent of rare earth elements, 70 percent of graphite, almost 60 percent of lithium, and almost 60 percent of vanadium, and 36 percent of cobalt.

Products like batteries and semiconductors that are needed in the liberals' remaking of America require large amounts of these rare earth elements.

The good news is we have them, right here within our borders. The bad news is that under the Biden administration's burdensome regulations, companies are unable to mine these very elements that are under the ground that we stand on. We need to unshackle the American worker and allow businesses to extract these minerals so that we can make the products of the future right here at home instead of relying on foreign rivals.

As the last 9 months have clearly shown, these policies are not the right way forward. Congress must continue to embrace the bottom-up innovation that will result in leaps in efficiency far greater than any mandate--instead of expensive taxes that will take money out of working Americans' pockets.

We have a great group of colleagues here tonight from the House Energy Action Team to talk about how their communities are being affected by this administration.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Balderson.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his candor.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), my friend.

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Georgia (Mr. Carter).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia, especially for raising the important point of the all-of-the- above approach to energy. But above all, we need to maintain the great jobs that comes from the fuels that are under our feet.

Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentleman from the great State of Washington (Mr. Newhouse).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the State of Washington and chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus for his insights and for taking the time this evening to present those.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Georgia (Mr. Allen), who is my friend and who is, more importantly, going to discuss the impacts in his State of Georgia.

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I would like to point out how essential coal, oil, and natural gas pipelines are to my district in Pennsylvania. These are valuable resources that enhance our ability to provide low-cost energy to the American people. Yet President Biden's decision to cancel the Keystone XL project while allowing Russia to continue to export more and more natural gas puts our national security at risk.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his words specifically addressing the dismantling of energy independence.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I think the gentleman from Arkansas has made incredible points we all should be listening to. He highlighted the important role that coal continues to play in supplying power to our electric grid. In Congress we need to remain committed to addressing the needs of the American people and ensure that they have safe, reliable, and affordable energy.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. LaTurner).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kansas for his comments.

The energy needs and the resources available throughout our country are very significant, and as we move forward it is essential that government bureaucrats are not choosing the winners and the losers. The best energy producers should rise to the top.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, could you please clarify how much time I have remaining?

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the whip of the minority team.

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the whip for his concise discussion about the assault on American energy and how that affects the working class communities throughout the United States.

Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Cawthorn).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his concise and inspiring words.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger).

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his remarks.

I want to thank all of the members of the House Energy Action Team for their work tonight and their commitment to the American people.

We have heard examples of how President Biden's disastrous policies are harmful to energy producers and to the consumers. We have seen examples of how these policies create overburdensome regulations that harm small businesses and stifle innovation.

I am proud to be working with my HEAT colleagues to push back against these disastrous policies.

Right now, the United States must embrace an all-of-the-above energy solution that will combine the needs of the consumers with the strengths of our producers.

What does that mean? It means embracing baseload power creators, including coal and natural gas produced from Marcellus Shale. These are critical components of Pennsylvania's energy industry.

On the first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order that suspended work on the needed Keystone XL pipeline.

In Pennsylvania, the natural gas and oil industry supports over 300,000 jobs, provides over $20 billion in wages, and contributes nearly $44.5 billion to our economy.

Between 2018 and 2019 alone, natural gas brought in over $450 million in revenue in our Commonwealth.

We have learned a lot tonight. We have learned the strong energy sector cannot and should not be negotiable. We recognize that energy security is clearly national security.

Madam Speaker, I thank you for allowing my colleagues and me to present this important information tonight to the United States Congress.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the remainder of my time.

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