Lng Ban Hurts Americans

Floor Speech

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Mr. JAMES. Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration just announced a total pause on new export permits for liquid natural gas, all in the name of climate change.

I am from Michigan, the Great Lakes State. We all love clean air and clean water. Michigan is the home of the automotive industry, and the longest coastline of any place in America with our Great Lakes, protecting both our table stakes. To those ends, LNG is one of the cleanest energy fuels on the Earth, mined with American labor according to the strictest environmental and safety standards in the world.

However, this administration has decided to play politics with not just our energy security but also our national security. Let me be clear. This administration does not hate oil and gas; they hate American oil and gas.

Since he has been sworn in, Biden has waged war on American industry. He has crippled the very industry that our prosperity and security rely on and the very reason the U.S. dollar is the currency of global trade, yet he has made us dependent on our adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran.

If we had just done what President Trump asked of our allies in shutting down Nord Stream 2, Putin would not have been able to fund his war against Ukraine in the first place, but I digress.

Mr. Speaker, this war on LNG is going to impact my State specifically. Michigan has the most underground natural gas storage in the entire country, with 1.1 trillion cubic feet of underground storage. That is one-eighth of the Nation's natural gas storage capacity.

Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration's energy policies are insane. We cannot allow this administration to continue relying on dictators and despots from Tehran to Caracas to keep our supply chain moving and our homes heated. That would be like asking the fox to lock up the chicken coop at night or Secretary Mayorkas to watch the border.

By pursuing energy independence using safe, American-made energy, we lower prices, grow jobs, and reshore domestic manufacturing.

That is why I voted in favor of H.R. 1 alongside 225 of my Republican and Democratic colleagues. H.R. 1 would unleash American oil and natural gas while securing our critical supply chains. It would ensure that America is energy independent, prepared for threats down the road.

This makes certain that America has the resources necessary to defend and protect herself while also assuring that blue-collar families in my district can afford to keep their lights on and their gas tanks full without breaking the bank.

Mr. Speaker, I will continue to champion energy that is made in America and hold Biden accountable for the foolish games he is playing with our future.

Mr. Speaker, Governor Granholm's policies crushed the State of Michigan. I will not stand idly by while Energy Secretary Granholm's policies crush the United States of America.

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