Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BICE. Mr. Chairman, I find it disingenuous for the other side of the aisle to continue to talk about polluters over people, and here is why:

The Democrats are the ones that are wanting to pollute our environment. They are the ones that are supporting electrification, which requires batteries and rare earth minerals. Those same rare earth minerals that go into those batteries are being mined in China or other countries across the world with no regulations. They continue to pollute the environment, so to suggest that this bill is harming the environment is just ridiculous.

Since President Biden took office, Americans have felt the pain of skyrocketing energy costs. Gas prices have reached historical highs and are still well over 40 percent of what they were when he was sworn in.

Time and again, this administration has caved to environmental justice groups and held up critical energy infrastructure projects, canceling lease sales, and weaponizing the permitting process to cater to their political agenda.

This is why the Lower Energy Costs Act is so critical. This legislation provides important safeguards to lower energy costs and help streamline the pace of projects by putting in place deadlines for filing litigation on final agency actions concerning energy and mining projects.

The Federal permitting process is one of the most lengthy, arduous constraints that can delay projects for decades. I am glad to see vital fixes in the legislation, including my bill, the BLM Mineral Spacing Act, which removes duplicative environmental reviews and the need for Federal permitting when the Federal Government has no surface rights or only a minority share in the subsurface minerals.

If the Biden administration truly wanted to lower energy costs, the President's budget wouldn't have removed intangible drilling cost deductions. If these vital provisions were eliminated, it would not only result in increased energy prices, but it would also cost the U.S. over 250,000 jobs and would have a disparate impact throughout the Nation.

I am committed to cutting bureaucratic red tape, especially for our hardworking energy producers who have dealt with the stifling regulations from the Biden administration, and H.R. 1 is the first step toward lowering energy costs.

The legislation is a commonsense, all-of-the-above approach, and promotes American energy producers. Simply put, we need to get back to what we do best--allowing Americans, like those in my home State of Oklahoma, to power our Nation with clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

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