Strategic Production Response Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I support H.R. 21.

Michiganians are facing hardships due to President Biden and Secretary Granholm's war on American energy. My constituents are struggling to afford to fill up their tanks and heat their homes.

Instead of abandoning his failed progressive policies and unleashing domestic energy production to lower costs for hardworking Americans, the Biden administration decided to use America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a political Band-Aid.

President Biden has sold off over 250 million barrels of oil, draining our SPR to its lowest level since 1983. America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve is to be used in cases of national emergency, not political emergencies. Energy security is national security.

H.R. 21 is a commonsense measure to ensure that our SPR remains ready for when we face global supply disruptions that threaten our economy and prevents politically motivated withdrawals. Let's pass it.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I withdraw my reservation of a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I think we need to remember that H.R. 21 is about strengthening the SPR by requiring any nonemergency use to be accompanied by a plan to produce American oil resources.

This amendment undermines the purpose of the bill. It would deprive the country of the benefits of secure American supplies of cleanly produced fossil energy. We should reject this anti-American energy amendment.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I withdraw my reservation of a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, this amendment prohibits the leasing plan from decreasing land and water for recreation, but this is unnecessary. Nothing in the bill changes any existing laws related to land and water access.

Energy production and conservation are not mutually exclusive. Republicans are good stewards and desire to be good stewards as well of all of our resources. In fact, every year, $900 million in royalties are paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on Federal land, and those royalties are put into this fund. The money is used to protect national parks and the land surrounding waters and national wildlife refuges.

This amendment is nothing more than an attempt to delay the implementation of H.R. 21, so I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

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

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, this amendment prohibits oil and gas exploration in a specific area of the Outer Continental Shelf off the California coast.

This amendment excludes a tract of land from oil and gas exploration from being included in the leasing plan. Virtually, all oil and gas leasing in the OCS occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil and gas exploration in the OCS accounts for roughly 15 percent of all domestic oil production and 2 percent of domestic natural gas production.

By further limiting this potentially vast resource, we will not be able to meet demand for oil and gas as it increases, and it will.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, H.R. 21 is about strengthening the SPR by requiring any non-emergency use to be accompanied by a plan to produce American oil resources.

This amendment undermines the purpose of H.R. 21 and would deprive the country of the benefits of secure American supplies of cleanly produced fossil energy.

Rather than deprive Californians--including the hardworking Californians in the energy production industry--the benefit of increasing American energy and security, we should embrace the pro- energy policies of H.R. 21.

We should reject this anti-energy amendment.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, this amendment goes further than the scope of H.R. 21. Nothing in H.R. 21 affects any laws or statutes on the books that regulate offshore oil and gas development.

The purpose and scope of this bill is limited: it is to protect our SPR from political use and to ensure we are adequately prepared for future legitimate emergencies. It does nothing to impact existing Department of the Interior regulations.

It simply requires the Secretary of Energy to develop a plan to increase production if it is used without declaring an emergency. This is not a vehicle to impose new restrictions.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my reservation of a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, this amendment further restricts the land that could be eligible for the production plan. It sets a vague requirement to ensure that land in the plan provides ``a fair return for taxpayers.''

The Biden administration has hamstrung our ability to produce American energy. This has had a disastrous consequence for Americans.

Energy prices have skyrocketed under this administration and still remain high. We have grown more reliant on our adversaries such as Venezuela, Iran, and China for energy--dirty energy. I would argue that producing more American energy to lower prices for families is a ``fair return for taxpayers.''

I urge a ``no'' vote, Mr. Chairman, on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. This amendment would require the leasing plan to include a consultation plan with Tribal Governments. Current law allows for sufficient consultation with relevant agencies and Tribes. This bill does nothing to change underlying leasing laws that the Department of the Interior is subject to.

So I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, this amendment would prohibit the leasing plan from including leasing where it would disproportionately burden communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities. However, current law allows for a process requiring consultation with relevant agencies, Tribes, and communities.

This bill does nothing to change underlying leasing laws the Department of the Interior is subject to, so I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

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

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, this amendment would prohibit the leasing plan from including leasing on Federal lands that are viable for renewable energy production.

This amendment is nothing more than an attempt to force the government to pick winners and losers in the marketplace by mandating only renewable production on certain lands. It is also shortsighted given some of the serious environmental and land degradation concerns the build-out of massive swaths of solar panels and wind turbines create.

The intent of H.R. 21 is to protect the SPR and increase domestic production of oil and gas. This would do the opposite.

Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I do insist on the point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. The amendment violates clause 7 of rule XVI of the rules of the House because it is not germane to the underlying bill.

Specifically, the bill limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of Federal lands leased for oil and gas production. The amendment would require the Secretary of Energy to develop a plan to offset any drawdown of petroleum products in the reserve with measures that reduce the demand for oil.

Measures to reduce the demand for oil is a different purpose for the plan in H.R. 21. The amendment is not germane.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chair, I reserve a point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, I insist upon my point of order.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, clause 7 of rule XVI prohibits the House and its committees from considering nongermane amendments.

This amendment is not germane because it violates the subject matter test of germaneness.

H.R. 21 proposes to limit the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of Federal lands leased for oil and gas production.

This amendment would introduce a new subject matter into the bill. Specifically, the amendment requests leases or permits issued to be accompanied by a certification. This is about permit holders, not a leasing plan. This idea should be judged on the merits in a separate bill.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. WALBERG. H.R. 21 is about strengthening the SPR by requiring any nonemergency use to be accompanied by a plan to produce American oil resources. This amendment is unworkable as a matter of certification, and if it were to work, it would lead to inhibiting the price signals necessary for generating more supply.

The market economy allocating resources through supply and demand is the best system for assuring affordable quality goods and depends on prices to signal more supply. This amendment seeks to curtail price signals for largely uneconomic messaging purposes.

This amendment undermines the purpose of the bill, and so, I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

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

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