Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Bureau of Land Management Relating to ``Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment''

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 672, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 104) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to ``Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTERMAN. Res. 104.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 104, sponsored by Representative Downing of Montana.

This Congressional Review Act resolution would permanently repeal the Bureau of Land Management's misguided resource management plan amendment for the Miles City Field Office in Montana, finalized under the Biden administration.

This resource management plan, or RMP, amendment locked up 11.7 million acres of land and mineral estate. To put that in perspective, that is an area roughly the size of the States of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, and New Jersey combined.

RMPs are meant to be collaborative approaches to land management that balance multiple uses, including energy and mineral production, outdoor recreation, grazing, and timber harvesting. When done correctly, RMPs help guide public land management in a way that provides fuel, food, and fiber for the Nation and conserves our natural resources.

RMPs manage the resources that are the backbone of western rural economies and support thousands of good-paying jobs. That is what makes the Miles City Resource Management Plan amendment so egregious.

This RMP amendment virtually ended future coal leasing across Montana's entire Powder River Basin, dealing a severe blow to America's energy security and threatening Montana jobs and economic growth.

The national security and economic importance of this region cannot be overstated. Montana holds nearly 30 percent of our Nation's coal reserves. In total, coal from the Powder River Basin produced in Montana and Wyoming makes up about 85 percent of Federal coal production and 40 percent of overall coal production in the entire United States.

Coal is reliable and affordable, and we know we are going to need this critical resource of baseload power as electricity demands continue to skyrocket. If your State has coal, we should be developing it, not burying it under bureaucracy. No one produces coal cleaner or more responsibly than the United States. Nobody understands this better than President Trump, who is reversing the war on American energy and ushering in a new age of energy dominance. He is putting Montana over Moscow and the Powder River Basin over the PRC.

By passing the CRA today, we are advancing President Trump's executive orders on unleashing American energy and reinvigorating America's beautiful clean coal industry.

The CRA will immediately reinstate future coal leasing and open access to 37.8 billion short tons of coal, enough to meet U.S. demand for the next 73 years.

In addition, passing Representative Downing's CRA will unleash Montana's coal industry and generate millions of dollars in revenue for the Federal Government and the State of Montana.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this CRA will generate $16 million in revenue for the Federal Government over the next decade. This resolution also protects approximately $46 million in annual revenue for Montana's K-12 public education system.

These estimates are conservative, as they don't account for the thousands of good-paying jobs supported by Montana's coal industry and the broad positive economic effects of producing energy here at home.

The CRA isn't just about Montana. Energy security is national security, and Montana's mining industry plays a vital role in ensuring America and our allies maintain a strategic energy advantage over our adversaries.

We can be sure of one thing: The people who benefit from America not harnessing our abundant natural resources are currently sitting in Beijing, China, where they are building new coal-fired power plants at the rate of one per week. In this global energy race, we cannot afford to lose.

Unleashing American energy should not be a partisan issue. Harnessing and unleashing American energy brings down electricity prices for families and boosts real wages for hardworking Americans who keep our economy running.

This CRA is about grid reliability, energy affordability, and ensuring that States across the country have access to dispatchable baseload power, especially during extreme weather and peak demand. It will create jobs, generate millions of dollars in revenue, and provide for our national security.

I commend the entire Montana delegation, Representatives Downing and Zinke, and Senators Daines and Sheehy, for their tireless work and leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support the CRA, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, all Americans should have on the top of their priority list energy security and national security. When we block off millions of acres of land from any kind of energy development, that is something that should come right up to the top of priorities.

I heard mention of balance. To think that there was balance in the RMP that the Biden administration put out, especially on this land in Montana, is no kind of balance that I have ever seen. It is totally unbalanced. It locks things down, shuts things off, and leaves the American people to deal with the ramifications of it, with higher energy prices, less reliable energy, and also less national security.

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the CRAs do have Tribal consultation. If there wasn't Tribal consultation, it was during the development of the RMP.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter from the Navajo Transitional Energy Company in support of the CRA repealing the Miles City RMP amendment. Navajo Transitional Energy Company, Broomfield, CO, July 18, 2025. Hon. Steve Daines, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

Dear Senator Daines: On behalf of over one thousand employees, I write to express my strong support for S.J. Res. 61, which seeks to rescind the 2024 Miles City Resource Management Plan Amendment (``RMPA'') under the Congressional Review Act (``CRA''). Navajo Transitional Energy Company, LLC (``NTEC'') is the third largest thermal coal producer in the United States. NTEC is unique in that it was formed in 2013 by the Navajo Nation to ``promote the development of the Navajo Nation's resources and new sources of energy, power, transmission and attendant resources to develop the economic, financial, social and cultural well-being of the Navajo People and the Navajo Nation.'' See Navajo Nation Council Resolution CAP-20-13 (2013), NTEC is, thus, a Navajo Nation limited liability company with one shareholder, the Navajo Nation. NTEC owns and operates three surface coal mines within the Powder River Basin, including one mine--the Spring Creek Mine--located in Montana and within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Miles City Office's Resource Management Planning Area.

As NTEC's Chief Executive Officer, I've seen firsthand how the RMPA prohibits the leasing and development of new federal coal. The overwhelming majority of the coal within the RMPA is either federal coal or coal granted to the State of Montana. The RMPA prohibits the development of all such coal because it is physically and economically impossible to only develop coal resources possessed by the State of Montana. The RMPA will hinder not only Montana's economic growth, as well as that of the entire Powder River Basin but also disrupt America's vital energy security well into the future.

The current RMPA prohibits the leasing of federal coal, leaving skilled workers questioning the sustainability of the current economic environment. Passing the CRA resolution sends a clear message to families, small businesses, and energy partners that Montana is open for responsible development. I urge the Senate to support S.J. Res. 61 so we can secure Montana's economic future and maintain America's hard fought energy independence.

Returning to the 2015 RMP--and allowing leasing that balances energy security with environmental stewardship--will yield these immediate results:

A surge in local capital investment as energy companies bid on new leases, stimulating equipment sales and service contracts.

Increases to county and state tax revenues to fund schools, roads, and public safety.

Job creation not only in mining but also in construction, trucking, and professional services supporting mining operations.

Spur millions in royalty payments to state and federal coffers, offsetting budget shortfalls.

Preserve family-sustaining wages for miners, engineers, and support staff across Montana.

A stable, domestic fuel source that lowers electricity costs for manufacturers and keeps Montana competitive.

Securing a domestic fuel source to supply affordable baseload power during a period of unprecedented electricity demand growth and ballooning projected future development.

The RMPA unfairly targets coal at the expense of working families and rural economies. Congressional disapproval under the CRA is the swiftest remedy and will pave the way for a thoughtfully drafted future management plan that guarantees the prosperity of the United States, Montana, and individuals. I urge the Senate to vote ``yes'' on this resolution and help safeguard Montana's economic backbone for generations.

Thank you for your leadership on this critical issue. Sincerely, Vern K. Lund, Chief Executive Officer.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the Navajo Transitional Energy Company is the third largest coal producer in the United States and operates three mines in the Powder River Basin. They were strongly opposed to the previous RMP amendment and support this CRA to ``preserve family- sustaining wages for miners, engineers, and support staff across Montana.'' The NTEC also stated that the RMP ``prohibits the leasing of Federal coal, leaving skilled workers questioning the sustainability of the current economic environment. Hageman).

Mr. Speaker, in regard to my colleague's request for a colloquy, I will just say that it is necessary to do a CRA because the previous administration issued bad resource management plans. Had they not issued bad resource management plans, then we wouldn't be here today.

The thing about a CRA is if Congress passes this law, then another administration can't go back and put it in place. I think that is why my colleagues fear this process of using the CRA because then it would be up to a future Congress to go back and undo what we do in this Congress if we actually pass a Congressional Review Act.

Again, we are here today because the Biden administration decided to unbalance the scales and put onerous burdens on States, on our natural resources, and on the ability to produce our energy here.

Mr. Speaker, they started it by issuing the bad RMP. Hopefully, we will finish it by passing the CRA.

Boebert).

Mr. Speaker, I do have ideological reasons for wanting to lower energy costs across America. The last time I checked at the gas pump, the energy prices are going down there. We are seeing a huge demand for energy across this country that is being driven even more by AI and data centers with unimaginable amounts of energy required for these facilities.

I heard about the announcement of a data center that would require the amount of electricity to run the city of Denver five times over in a year. One data center needs that much energy.

We see electric prices increase because there is more demand for electricity. We have had horrible energy policy in the past, and we haven't kept up with the demand.

The Chinese, on the other hand, are building new coal-fired plants. Every 2 days, they are building a new coal-fired plant, which is even harder to imagine. They are trying to beat us in this race on AI, and they are not going to let energy be the deciding factor on that.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time.

Mr. Speaker, it is a good thing that we have this tool called the Congressional Review Act that asserts the Article I authority that Congress has. You see, Mr. Speaker, we don't have to go begging a Secretary or asking the administration what actions we take. We get to determine which actions we take, and the Congressional Review Act is one of those tools that we have to take a big hammer to a bad policy.

I am glad that we are taking that big hammer to a terrible policy. We are also making it so that a future administration can't enact another bad policy like the ones that were put into place with these three RMPs that we will be addressing today. That is a good thing.

It is a good thing that we are focusing on unleashing American energy. The time to do that is now. The time to restore balanced management to our public lands is now.

It is now time to put Big Sky Country ahead of Beijing. It is past time that we do that. If allowed to continue, the Miles City RMP amendment developed by the previous administration could have devastating impacts on Montana and the entire U.S. economy.

Passing this CRA will help reinvigorate America's coal industry. Also it will unleash American energy.

In my district, I have a coal-fired plant that was built in 2010. To my knowledge, that was the last coal-fired plant built in the United States. Again, I mentioned earlier that China is building 120 gigawatts a year. That is one every 2 days, one of those 650-megawatt coal plants every 2 days that they are putting on line.

What are we doing with coal plants across America?

We have been closing them down. They provide reliable baseload energy.

That coal plant in my district that provides energy to businesses and energy to homes can't operate without coal, and that coal comes from the Powder River Basin. When we harness our resources out West and use those, it is a good thing, but when we lock them up, then we keep electricity from being affordable and we keep it from being reliable not just for constituents in Montana but for people all across this country.

That is exactly one of the many reasons I am supporting this CRA today. It means affordable, reliable energy. It means improved national security. It means good-paying jobs for rural Americans and millions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. Treasury.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source