Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Environmental Protection Agency Relating to ``Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles''

Floor Speech

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Mr. JAMES. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to be here today, and I remind my colleagues that Communism isn't fought with Communism. That is exactly what this government takeover of our American auto industry is.

I thank, again, Chairwoman Rodgers for her unwavering support of this resolution and her leadership and Leader Scalise for his support on getting this to the floor, as well. They have been leaders not just on this issue, but on so many issues that are important to the livelihoods of Americans.

Again, I acknowledge how personal this moment is for me. My father was just inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame last night. In 1971, he started his trucking company with one truck, one trailer, and no excuses. He had to fight all the way up to the Supreme Court for the next 7 years for the right to be able to travel across State lines. He was a pioneer, not just as an African-American MBE, not just as an African American in the industry, but for all small businesses.

My father fought to deregulate, to preserve the American Dream in the country, and, 50 years later, his son is standing here today fighting to deregulate, to fight for the American Dream in this country, against the burdensome regulations that are choking out jobs from my district and others.

It is the end of September. In the beginning of October, in my district, in Warren, 2,450 UAW jobs are going to be sent from Warren, not to Sterling Heights, but to Saltillo, Mexico, because the automotive industry is in survival mode because of policies just like this.

The audacity of my colleagues on the left to say that we are wasting time. I hope that every single UAW worker who you just quoted, Mr. Ranking Member, hears that you say that we are wasting their time.

We are fast-forwarding right now to what the automotive industry understands is a comply-or-die moment. We must fight for the American middle class that was born in Michigan, and we must fight for the American Dream that so many people feel is dying all over the country.

This tailpipe emissions standard is not just harmful, but it is catastrophic. People with their heads in the clouds in this town, who don't understand the way people are living across this country, need to come to reality.

The reality is the automotive industry itself, if you actually listen, has told you that in order to get to 67 percent compliant of new-vehicle sales, they cannot get there with the current technology or the current infrastructure or the current software without going to battery electric vehicles. Nobody here is against battery electric vehicles, but we are against telling the American people what they can do with their money and when they can do it.

This is why we are here. In 2032, the standard requires 25 percent of all sleeper-cab tractors and 60 percent of light heavy-duty vehicles, your cars and trucks, to have zero emissions. This mandate will cripple the trucking and shipping industries and drive up costs.

Does anybody in this country have a problem with inflation or cost of living? Well, just look to your left, and you will find the source.

In Michigan, the 10th Congressional District alone, we have over 1,000 manufacturing businesses, many tied to the automotive industry. Biden's extreme EV agenda threatens 77,000 manufacturing jobs in my district alone, the number one manufacturing district in the Nation. This is not just bad policy for Michigan. It is bad for the country.

Name a district that doesn't have a dealership, and that dealership is likely the largest philanthropist in your church, to your bake sales, to your Little League team. Guess what is going to happen when they have cars on their lots that they can't sell. Guess what is going to happen with the same policies that spent $7.5 billion for charging stations and only got 7 in 2 years.

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Mr. JAMES. Madam Speaker, I will wrap up. I am fairly emotional about the livelihoods of the people who sent me here.

This CRA takes a stand and sends a clear message that we will not abandon our people or our automakers or our autoworkers. Michigan isn't afraid of the future. Republicans are not afraid of the future, but we demand that every American have a part in it.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of H.J. Res. 136. I think about every hardworking American whom Washington has forgotten when we talk about making vehicles that are affordable and making a nation that is competitive.

This isn't about partisanship. It is about common sense. It is called pragmatism.

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