Bring Back American Energy Independence

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time tonight.

Madam Speaker, despite what President Biden and congressional Democrats have to say, higher prices at the fuel pump are not because of a Putin price increase.

The price of a gallon of gas increased from $2.31 a gallon since President Biden's inauguration to $3.48 the week before Putin's invasion of Ukraine. That is a 50 percent increase before the invasion of Ukraine even began.

But make no mistake, the Biden administration is doing everything they can to blame the increase on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They have turned to their allies in the mainstream media to carry their talking points.

But I urge all Americans not to let the headlines or TikTok influencers fool you. This is a crisis caused by President Biden and congressional Democrats' anti-energy policies, not Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Unfortunately, we all knew this was coming when President Biden said on the campaign trail that he would ``transition away from the oil industry.''

During his first days in office, President Biden declared war against American energy. He moved his plan into action by canceling the Keystone pipeline and other projects, imposing new regulations on the oil and gas industry, and stalling new leases on oil and gas projects on Federal lands.

If the President has a legitimate plan to lower energy prices and fight inflation, we, the American people, would love to see it.

But until we do, I can only guess the President's plan is what he has done since taking office: spend trillions of dollars and hope Americans purchase expensive electric vehicles. That is not a plan. It is a pipe dream.

The truth is that this is not the America President Biden inherited. Under President Trump, America was energy independent, even a net oil exporter. Inflation was well under control. Gas was less than $2.50 a gallon, and our enemies were our enemies, not potential trade partners.

But the price of a gallon of gas, along with inflation, has increased every single month since President Biden was inaugurated. The resulting harm to our country has been mostly self-inflicted and largely driven by Democrats' massive deficit spending and by the fact that the President has declared war on the U.S. oil and gas industry from his first day in office.

Every step he has taken to hinder the oil and gas industry diminishes capitalism, the very engine of our economy and our relatively high standard of living.

Whether it is in our schools or with our healthcare decisions, President Biden's administration wants you to do what they say instead of trusting what has made us the most prosperous country in the history of the world.

Republicans in Congress stand ready to implement policies to make America energy independent again. It is time for the President to reverse the war against American energy and recognize that the solution to his energy crisis exists right under our feet. Still, the President refuses to pull his head out of the sand to tap into it.

He will stop at nothing to satisfy his leftwing base, even if it is at the expense of everyday, hardworking Americans, who I am proud to represent in middle Tennessee.

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