Unlocking Our Domestic Lng Potential Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, do we want to talk about gifts to Putin?

Which party is preventing any aid going to Ukraine to fight Putin and Russia?

Mr. Speaker, don't come up here and talk about the hypocrisy of who is giving a gift to Putin because it is your party, the Republican Party, that is doing that.

Today, I rise in opposition to H.R. 7176 which would strip away the Department of Energy's ability to examine the full impacts of liquefied natural gas export projects on our climate, consumer energy costs, and communities.

LNG exports are an environmental injustice and a climate disaster. They pollute minority and low-income communities along the Gulf Coast.

We have heard directly from communities in these regions that they do not want any LNG facilities to be built in their backyards.

Roishetta Ozane, a mother of six in Sulphur, Louisiana, is surrounded by oil and gas infrastructure, including three LNG export facilities. She has said: ``Our air smells like rotten eggs. There is constant flaring. . . . It sounds like trains are coming back and forth. I have two children who suffer with asthma. I have children who suffer with other respiratory and skin conditions. . . . There are several families dealing with the same thing.''

For far too long, her community's voice has been ignored as these LNG export facilities were built.

I commend the Biden administration for taking an important step to pause the consideration of new permits for LNG export terminals. It gives us a chance to make sure that people like Roishetta have a voice.

The Republican bill in front of us is an attempt to silence communities overwhelmed by pollution. It forces the Federal Government to ignore what is in the public interest and instead blindly approve LNG export projects to create profits for the fossil fuel industry.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Democratic colleagues to oppose this bill and stand up for our consumers, our climate, and the health of our communities.

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