Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Today, I think about when my four children were young. They are stair-stepped 2 years apart. They used to have competitions in the backyard. They would race from the patio to the elm tree and back. And I would stagger the starting time: Let the youngest one go first, then the next to the youngest, and so on. And by the time they touched the tree and came back, it turned into a real competition--a photo finish a lot of times.

Mr. Speaker, we have all competed in games whose outcome has little significance in life, but we are not facing an insignificant competition in our future. We are in a race of ideologies. The stakes are as high as they can be. We are literally in a struggle for the future of western civilization, of democracy, of representative government, of human rights, and freedom.

Mr. Speaker, this isn't a matter of competing. It is a must-win scenario. And quite frankly, I am aghast that this majority thinks that we only need to compete. Losing is not an option. Our attitude must be to win. If we lose, humanity loses.

I believe freedom-loving Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and people all across the world want America to win. I am disappointed that the Speaker and this majority, once again, dropped a massive bill that could and should be bipartisan, but instead is a cloak for failed Build Back Better policies that lie dead in the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, ``You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.''

Those familiar words were from Ronald Reagan in the 1960s, but they have never been more true than today.

How serious are the issues that we face? Take a look at these charts from the economist. This first one is in 2000. The blue is the U.S. and its trading partners. The red is China and its trading partners. Look what has happened in a short 20-year span as we look at this same map from 2022. We see a massive increase in red on this map and a massive decrease of blue on this map.

What do provisions in this bill from the blue New Deal have to do with us winning against China? It does the exact opposite by killing American jobs. Restoring coral reefs off our coast is a commendable goal, but what does spending $292 million on coral reef restoration have to do with us winning against China?

This bill gives supreme, unilateral authority to the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine what species can be imported into the U.S. This so-called ``white list'' mandated in the bill is virtually impossible to implement and will effectively shut down aquaculture and similar industries who need trade to conduct business.

The weaponization of the Lacey Act will only empower bureaucrats and ignores the current State-based approach on species imports. It is legislative laziness since there have been no hearings or an introduced bill on this topic. What in the world does that have to do with winning against China?

The bill requires biased studies and new heavy-handed regulations designed to kill American mineral development.

Mr. Speaker, how can this majority propose this bill while the Democratic administration continues to illustrate incompetency by killing American energy and jobs, and even pulling mining leases in Minnesota that could create jobs and supply resources for the very policies on electrification the administration supports? This only shifts wealth and jobs to China. How does that help us win?

It reminds me of my kids' races, where the majority is trying to handicap America and give China a head start. What we should be doing to have a winning strategy--we should be working together on real issues to ensure that America wins. We should be strengthening diplomacy and trade with our allies and create a solid Western Hemisphere alliance to ensure that America wins.

We should be developing our resources and jobs to help America win. We should be part of the solution and not the problem. Americans and freedom will win if we let them.

As I close, I want to remind you of a fable by Aesop, the Eagle and the Arrow. The Eagle was struck by an arrow and as he lie on the ground he looked back at it, and he said: Alas, I have been wounded by an arrow that was feathered with my own plume.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to put more plumes on China's arrows. I oppose this bill.

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