Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Chairman, in 2015, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council was created specifically to improve ``the transparency, predictability, and outcomes of the Federal environmental review and authorization process for certain large-scale critical infrastructure projects.''

One of its core missions is to enhance coordination between Federal and State environmental reviews and provide more transparency.

As my constituents in Utah and my colleagues here know, our permitting system has long been too complex. Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 1, the landmark bill aimed at lowering energy costs and improving our permitting process.

We also passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act this year, which includes important wins to expedite permitting. It was broadly accepted, broadly supported.

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle understand the importance of permitting reform because we cannot reduce emissions, lower energy prices, or address vulnerabilities in our supply chain without it.

Unfortunately, in September, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council proposed a rule to limit the scope of mining projects eligible for this expedited process.

This proposed change is shortsighted and exacerbates the permitting delays that stifle the domestic mining industry and our efforts to produce cheaper, cleaner energy. This will hurt critically important mining projects in my home State of Utah and across our entire Nation.

Congress established the steering council to address the delays that continue to be one of the most substantial risks to meeting mineral production goals. This proposed change will threaten U.S. national security and mineral production objectives.

I urge the administration to reverse course, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I will just close with this: We have a shortage. We have to rely on foreign sources for some of our critical minerals.

If this rule goes through, it will limit the scope of what we need. It will limit the scope of what we need for our Department of Defense, for national security, and for the environmental agencies.

We have to be able to look at what we can do better here in America so we can provide cleaner technology.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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