Unlocking Our Domestic Lng Potential Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the residents of California's 25th Congressional District against H.R. 1949, which would increase their energy bills.

The desert communities I serve are already bearing the brunt of high energy bills and underinvestment in infrastructure. They simply cannot afford this bill.

Under Trump, in the last 9 months, electricity prices have gone up by 11 percent across the Nation. Trump's one big, beautiful bill, better known as the big, ugly law, will simply make matters much, much worse by delivering higher energy costs. It will raise energy costs by over $600 a year in California.

In my district, families are already struggling with some of the highest energy costs in the Nation. Families in the desert are paying hundreds more per year, not because they are using luxury power, but because extreme heat makes air-conditioning a necessity.

For many families, the rising costs of energy are not abstract numbers. High costs force impossible choices between cooling their homes or risking heat-related illnesses.

These bills being debated here today directly affect their health, safety, and financial stability because they raise costs.

More specifically, H.R. 1949, the Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act, is a direct threat to working people and middle-class families in my district and across the country.

This bill removes the requirement that the Department of Energy determine whether LNG exports are in the public interest, like lowering costs, before approving shipments to countries without free trade agreements.

In other words, this bill assumes automatically and without review that every LNG export is good for America. That assumption is not only irresponsible, but it is also dangerous and absolutely false.

Analyses have shown that increasing LNG exports drives up natural gas prices here at home. DOE's own review last year could not have been clearer: Unconstrained LNG exports will raise costs for American families and harm our economy.

DOE found that the kind of unlimited exports authorized under this bill would increase household energy costs by more than $100 per year on top of the cost increases already burdening families under the Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act, i.e., the big, ugly law.

Let's be clear. H.R. 1949 is a substantial giveaway to major oil and gas corporations, billionaires, and executives at the expense of working people once again.

It strengthens foreign adversaries, including China, while forcing American families, especially those in extreme heat regions like mine, to pay the price through higher monthly bills.

For the hardworking people of San Jacinto, Coachella, and Imperial Valley, the pass area, where triple-digit heat is a life-threatening reality, these rising energy costs are devastating. They represent choices no family should ever be forced to make between cooling their homes during extreme heat or keeping their loved ones safe.

This is not hypothetical. This is unacceptable.

The people I represent are resilient and hardworking. Right now, they are facing higher energy bills while already dealing with extreme heat and limited resources.

This bill will make matters worse. This bill will raise their costs even more. We need to lower costs, not raise them. That is why I urge a ``no'' vote on H.R. 1949. Let's lower costs.

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