Researching Efficient Federal Improvements for Necessary Energy Refining Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FONG. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3109, the REFINER Act.

This legislation is critical to unleashing our energy potential, lowering costs for hardworking families, and protecting our national security.

U.S. refineries are vital to our energy ecosystem. They convert crude oil into fuels and countless products, ranging from shoes and plastics to cell phones, computers, solar panels, medical devices, and even space suits. They make gasoline and diesel for our cars and trucks, and they make jet fuel for our planes.

Yet, over the past few years, our refining capacity has declined due to burdensome Federal and State policies.

I know this bitter reality all too well in my home State of California.

From 2020 to 2022, we lost more than 1 million barrels of production capacity per day, and refinery closures are projected to slash that capacity by 20 percent over the next year. Twenty percent of our refining capacity is going to disappear overnight.

Since 2018, over 360 energy companies have left California. Oil production has dropped by 47 million barrels over the past 5 years, and foreign imports now account for over 60 percent of our crude supply in California.

Californians pay nearly $5 a gallon. In fact, Californians are paying the highest gas and electricity prices in the Nation, thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom's radical-left failed energy policies. California has an affordability crisis that Governor Gavin Newsom created, but this crisis also goes well beyond the pump.

As California fuel production declines, it jeopardizes our national security and undermines our military readiness, as multiple strategic military bases rely on California fuel. With threats from our foreign adversaries, like China, only continuing to grow, we cannot risk leaving our defenses weakened.

The REFINER Act is common sense. It will help identify ways to expand refining capacity, protect our energy infrastructure, and strengthen our national security.

Mr. Speaker, we must act now to restore American energy dominance, secure affordable fuel for families, and protect our Nation's military defense. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3109.

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