Restoring America's Energy Independence
Floor Speech
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Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise to highlight the passage of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which I voted for today, and this Chamber passed only minutes ago.
Over the past 2 years, we have seen record increases in energy prices coupled with inflation cause countless hardships for families in my district and across the country. In fact, gas prices have risen nearly every single month of President Biden's term, long before Putin's invasion of Ukraine. That is not to mention the fact that, in 2021, U.S. imports of Russian oil nearly tripled.
Despite these facts, this administration has consistently opposed American energy development.
Rather than restricting domestic energy and mineral production, we need to unlock American resources to provide energy security here at home and for our allies abroad.
H.R. 1 allows our domestic energy industry to flourish and puts us back on the path to energy dominance by removing unnecessary, complicated permitting regulations and modernizing outdated laws.
Many of the problems America's energy industry faces today stem from burdensome permitting requirements, the outdated NEPA process, and endless litigation over already leased lands and projects currently in progress.
H.R. 1 tackles these challenges head-on, unleashing American energy, reforming our broken permitting process, and imposing filing deadlines on litigation concerning energy and mining projects.
By doing so, this bill not only helps us slash energy costs for working families but also reduces our dependence on foreign fuel sources, which, in turn, benefits our environment and bolsters our national security.
America continues to be one of the cleanest energy producers in the world. For example, Russian natural gas exported to Europe has a lifecycle emissions profile 41 percent higher than U.S. liquefied natural gas exported to Europe. In fact, if the European Union switched all of their natural gas imports in 2021 from Russian to U.S., it is estimated that global emissions would have been reduced by over 218 million tons.
That is not to mention that the U.S. is at least 50 percent import reliant for 48 different mineral commodities, 24 of which come from China and 6 of which come from Russia.
Our energy security is national security, and it allows our Nation to deliver greater global emission reductions that substantially lower energy prices.
Madam Speaker, I am glad to say that not only will this bill benefit the people of my district at the pump and on their energy bills, but thanks to my amendment, I have guaranteed that it also protects the beautiful coastal waters that southeast Virginians call home by ensuring the existing moratoriums on drilling off the coast of Virginia are not affected.
We have worked very hard on the Natural Resources Committee to ensure this bill will directly benefit the American people.
We must restore strength in our economy, and that starts with restoring America's energy independence. Republicans are leading on this issue, and it is my hope that this bill will make its way to the President's desk and be signed into law so all Americans can benefit. Honoring the Gallaudet Eleven
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Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Gallaudet Eleven and highlight their important yet seemingly unknown contributions during the space race, contributions that led to invaluable scientific knowledge and, eventually, the successful Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Before NASA could send humans to space, the agency needed to better understand the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body.
So, in the late 1950s, NASA and the U.S. Naval School of Aviation Medicine established a joint research program to study these effects. They recruited 11 deaf men from Gallaudet University: Harold Domich, Robert Greenmun, Barron Gulak, Raymond Harper, Jerald Jordan, Harry Larson, David Myers, Donald Peterson, Raymond Piper, Alvin Steele, and John Zakutney.
All but one of these men had lost their hearing early in their lives due to spinal meningitis, which damaged the vestibular system of their inner ear in a way that made them immune to motion sickness.
Now known as the Gallaudet Eleven, these men underwent extensive testing over the course of 10 years, pushing their bodies to the limits to advance our space program.
The testing and experiments included living 12 days straight inside a 20-foot slow rotation room, which remained in a constant motion of 10 revolutions per minute, a 200-mile journey on the choppy seas off the coast of Nova Scotia, and a series of zero-G flights in the notorious ``vomit comet'' aircraft.
The decade's worth of experimentation gave researchers critical insight into how the body's sensory system works when gravitational cues from the inner ear aren't available, as in the case of space flight. This insight helped give researchers the information they needed to safely send other men to space.
We cannot ignore that the space race played a significant part in the Cold War. Americans and Soviets competed to prove their technological and intellectual superiority by becoming the first nation to put a human into space.
When we landed on the Moon, our astronauts were seen as the ultimate American heroes, a distinction they would not have enjoyed without the contributions of the Gallaudet Eleven.
The service of these 11 men to the United States embodies a legacy of bravery, dedication, and love of country.
Madam Speaker, please join me in expressing gratitude to the Gallaudet Eleven for their honorable service to our Nation.
I hope that by highlighting the critical contributions of these unsung heroes, I have helped ignite an effort to provide them with the recognition and credit that they are due. Problems Caused by Navy Dry Dock Closures
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Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address my grave concerns with the recent closure of four Navy dry docks that are responsible for maintaining our Navy fleet and sustaining our Naval seapower and maritime strength.
Approximately 7 weeks ago, the U.S. Navy closed three dry docks at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton and another at the nearby Trident Refit Facility in Bangor, Washington.
One of these dry docks that was closed was the only dry dock on the West Coast certified to repair a nuclear aircraft carrier.
Without this vital infrastructure in place, our aircraft carriers in the Pacific are left completely vulnerable. We are now left with one dry dock on the East Coast that has the capacity to repair an aircraft carrier.
Combined, these shipyards used to have 22 dry docks. With 4 out of commission, we are down to 18 and have lost 22 percent of our critical Naval support infrastructure. We are now left with one dry dock on the East Coast that has the capacity to repair an aircraft carrier.
As a result of significant divestment in the 1990s, our Nation has only four public shipyards: Puget Sound and Pearl Harbor on the West Coast and Norfolk and Portsmouth on the East Coast.
As you can see here in this graph, the U.S. now has the fewest public shipyards than any other time since the end of World War II. Additionally, we now have 36 percent of the Navy's attack submarine fleet either in or waiting for maintenance.
This backlog is due to a multitude of factors, including workforce challenges, but having fewer shipyards and dry docks is a significant part of the problem.
This problem impacts the readiness of our submarines and aircraft carriers and our entire Navy fleet, the men and women who crew them, the defense industrial base, and our national defense as a whole.
Without the basic infrastructure needed to support our Navy, how can we possibly provide adequate defense capabilities if called upon to engage with our adversaries.
If we were to engage in conflict with a near-peer adversary such as China, we need to have infrastructure at the ready to repair damaged vessels in a timely manner and return them to their area of operation.
Increasing our maritime industrial base, including dry docks, is absolutely critical for our Navy to be able to effectively defend the United States and must be prioritized in our national defense budget.
I came to Congress to restore Americans' strength. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee from both sides of the aisle to ensure that we support and invest in our public shipyards in order to protect and defend our great Nation.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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