A Missed Opportunity

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, last night, the President had a real opportunity to put partisanship aside and speak to all Americans, not just Democrats or Republicans, but to all Americans.

Instead of sending a unifying message, we heard even more divisive rhetoric from the President. There were a lot of people who were here willing to work with him across the aisle to get good things done for our people and our constituents all across the country, and I consider myself one of them.

But the President makes it very difficult to do this when he continues to push lies about Republicans and our policies.

My constituents in the Central Valley are struggling to put food on their table and gas in their tanks because of this administration.

Unfortunately, the President failed to take accountability for many problems Americans across the country are experiencing under his failed leadership, from the rising cost of energy to the fentanyl coming across our open border.

One issue that hits home for me in particular was what President Biden said last night about energy. During his address, the President told the Nation that under his watch, energy bills and gas prices are going down.

This is not true for my constituents. Over the last few years, my office has received countless calls from people whose natural gas bills have tripled due to the high price of natural gas in California.

These are the same people who over the summer were paying over $6 a gallon to drive to work or to take their kids to school. These energy prices are crushing working-class families in my community and across the country.

In my district, the oil and gas industry is critical, not just for energy production but for the entire community.

The industry is responsible for billions of dollars in State and local tax revenue that funds vital community services like public schools, hospitals, and law enforcement.

Kern County is the leading energy provider for the State of California and the number seven oil-producing county in the Nation.

Yesterday, my guest to the President's address was Chad Hathaway. Chad owns and operates an independent oil company in Bakersfield and knows firsthand just how disastrous the energy policies of this administration have been.

Energy producers like Chad not only provide resources to California but the entire country. We have the resources right here in our own back yard, and we can and should be using them.

While we as a country should continue to develop and pursue other sources of energy, we cannot abandon traditional energy sources like the President made clear last night that he wants to do.

The Biden administration's energy policies are destroying affordable energy, high-paying jobs, and energy security for our Central Valley families.

There are a lot more stories to share about the impacts of this administration's policies, and tonight, House Republicans have reserved some time to respond to the President's address last night in this Chamber and to discuss some of the problems currently facing our country and the Republican vision for addressing them.

I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson), my good friend.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments. The gentleman from South Carolina made a great point. We know that history has happened in this building over the years, and this floor has been used since 1848.

I don't know if I have ever seen a crowd respond like they did last night, but I think it was an appropriate response, being that the President, for the first time in I think in my ninth or tenth time attending one of these said something that he knew was false about an entire party. It was unfortunate to see.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his comments.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), who I had the honor of doing a little shooting with in the last few weeks down there; had a great time.

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, we have run out of speakers, but just closing comments here.

I have been here for a few years, and I have had the opportunity to watch a lot of Presidents speak. In those years that I have been here, I have had some tough votes, I have watched some--I have made some tough comments.

But what I saw yesterday was a disappointment in my view. To see a President get up and say some of the things he said, to attack an entire party when he knows there are people in this group here that are willing to work with him to actually help the American people, try to solve the problems that our folks need us to solve for them; it was frustrating. That was why I took the opportunity to be here today.

I am always looking for those opportunities to work with whichever President it may be; if it was President Obama or President Trump or now President Biden. There are always places we can work together. We have got a lot of things that need to be resolved for the American people.

What I saw last night was an opportunity that was missed by this President and, hopefully, he will be able to make that up, and we can get to work for the American people.

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