Bring Back American Energy Independence

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I greatly appreciate Chairman Johnson for heading this up day after day.

I just wonder, have the Democrats been to the gas pumps lately? I used to love to go to the gas pumps and talk to folks to see what was going on. Now, honestly, I am afraid to even make eye contact with somebody because they are going to light you up, Madam Speaker.

I know we see a lot of these little, cute stickers. That is not my thing. I don't want to cause any vandalism with our President pointing at the pump saying, ``I did that,'' but the truth is, he did do this.

If they would listen to what is going on, they would know that America is ticked, and they should be. The national gas average today is $4.30 a gallon. The average a year ago was $2.87.

In 2020, gasoline or oil was around $17 a barrel, and today, I believe it has dropped to $95. I heard someone from the White House earlier bragging about how oil has dropped. I mean, that is the Washington way, to not talk about how it was at $17 a couple of years ago, but talk about how it has dropped from over $110 down to $95.

Madam Speaker, we need to turn the spigots back on. We need to get back into the oil business. The oil and gas companies, we have been told that they have the permits, and then they boast about that, that they are not drilling because of it.

The truth is, Madam Speaker, not enough pipelines have been permitted to move the product. If they get it, there is nowhere for it to go. There is no storage capacity. There is no way to move the product. The pipelines have to be completed, and that is part of the master plan here.

As has been stated by Members on this floor and other times, I have heard, $7 a gallon and electric vehicles are in. That is no way to drive innovation, Madam Speaker. Innovation is driven through creativity, through capitalism, not by crooked politicians and evil folks trying to change the American agenda.

Electric cars are not affordable yet. Over $50,000 a car. That is ridiculous. You have got over eight adapters on the plugs. It takes several hours to charge. I don't know if you have ever driven across country or not with a family but stopping 8 hours at a truck stop is not my idea of a vacation.

Renewables aren't reliable sources for our power grids. Democrats seem to double down, though, on these crazy woke environmental agenda issues. It just creates higher energy bills for Americans, Madam Speaker, and increases costs for business. That is why everything is up.

If you look at the price of fuel, I filled up my daughter's Dodge diesel the other day, and it cost me over $100. Why are we doing this to ourselves? We can turn the spigots back on. We can put Americans back to work. We can increase our economy. We can show the world that we are leaders.

As the Ukrainian President stated so eloquently this morning, our President needs to lead the world. It is a shame when a country that small has to call on a power as great as America and tell its leaders to lead once again. Until things change, though, Madam Speaker, Biden's economy is a bust.

I appreciate Chairman Johnson and his truculent behavior. He has raised this from more than lackluster, and I want to praise him for that.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source