Strategic Production Response Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chair, I thank Mr. Huffman for doing this amendment and for yielding me time.

Mr. Chair, the northern California coastline includes some of the most scenic and biodiverse waters in the world. As one of the five most significant upwellings in the world, California's north coast is home to nutrient-rich surface waters critical to maintaining vast biodiversity.

This coastline is home to dozens of marine mammals, over a hundred species of seabirds and shorebirds, and a tremendous number of fish species, which include salmon, striped bass, halibut, tuna, and many more.

An oilspill off this coast could devastate both the marine life and the local economy. It would crush the fishing community and local tourism. This amendment deserves to be passed.

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. 23.

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chair, my amendment would ensure that any plan to respond to high prices with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve includes oil conservation measures which will save our constituents money and strengthen our national security.

Reducing our country's reliance on oil reduces our economic and security exposure to hostile foreign governments.

The Biden administration has successfully used the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices for consumers following Russia's despicable invasion of Ukraine and in response to OPEC's punitive oil production cuts. In both cases, prices fell, and fell significantly, following the administration's actions.

My amendment would give the administration another tool to reduce prices and save money for our constituents. Policies that reduce oil use by using it more efficiently or transitioning to other fuel sources altogether benefit every American.

Having a plan with options that include boosting public transportation ridership, encouraging teleworking, and speeding the transition to using more electric vehicles would reduce our reliance on oil and lower fuel prices.

Relying on oil companies to drill our way out of overreliance doesn't make sense and will never deliver true energy independence. Oil companies are sitting on 13 million acres and about 9,000 approved but unused permits on public lands that aren't being used to produce gas or oil.

We need to do everything we can to build on the success of the true energy independence provisions secured in the landmark Inflation Reduction Act to break our dependence on oil, to create jobs in our country, and to strengthen our national security.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time. Point of Order

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Chairman, I couldn't disagree more. The whole purpose of this is to deal with providing a plan--that is the underlying bill, to provide this plan--and the whole idea is to save oil and gas and to reduce that. This amendment does that. It relies on that plan.

As a matter of fact, it embellishes the plan to include other known ways to save oil and gas. This is absolutely germane.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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