Inflation and Our Economy

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROSE. So true. Thank you, Vice-Chairman Johnson. I appreciate that.

Madam Speaker, the average cost of a gallon of gas in this country just passed $5 per gallon for the very first time. I repeat: The average cost of a gallon of gas in this country just passed $5 per gallon for the very first time.

I would like to remind Americans, especially those on the other side of the aisle who may not be affected because they drive electric vehicles, that prices at the pump started to go up well before Vladimir Putin's disgraceful invasion of Ukraine.

In fact, they started climbing shortly after President Biden took office. It is not a coincidence. It is not an unintended consequence. It was the President's intended outcome.

The President doesn't beat around the bush on the topic of fossil fuels. On the campaign trail, he pledged to get rid of them. I would say he is well on his way to keeping that promise.

Remember, this country was a net exporter of oil. Now we are stuck hoping the President has a good meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the same country he called a pariah, one that we hope results in them producing more oil and, hopefully, lowering global prices.

This administration has taken many steps to make it next to impossible to expand drilling here at home. We all remember how quickly the President killed the Keystone XL pipeline with no regard for the impact that would have on those jobs or how dependent it would make us on foreign oil suppliers.

This administration has also proposed more than $80 billion in tax increases on energy producers in the first two budget cycles since being in office.

We know the war in Ukraine has impacted fuel prices, but we Republicans argue that we didn't have to be reliant on foreign countries. If we just used the oil we have here at home, we probably could have kept prices down. Now, we are asking OPEC to produce more. It makes no sense.

The President calls this moment an incredible transition. I see nothing incredible about it. In fact, the only transition I see is the American people going from being able to provide for their families to being stuck at home because of record inflation and gas prices that have more than doubled.

We are not going to go from oil to electric consumption overnight. The grid isn't ready for an all-electric future. We should pursue an all-of-the-above approach that includes oil. The Tennessee Valley Authority uses 39 percent nuclear, 19 percent coal, 26 percent natural gas, 11 percent hydro, and 3 percent wind and solar to power millions of homes across the Tennessee valley. That is how you make sure you are not just energy independent, but you are energy dominant.

The answer isn't raiding our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The answer certainly isn't relying on foreign countries for supply. The answer is tapping into the resources with which our Nation happens to be abundantly blessed.

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