Producing Returns and Opportunity for Investment and Trade Act of 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5248, and I thank Representative Young Kim and Chairman Mast for working to move this package of economic diplomacy measures in a bipartisan manner.

This bill highlights the critical importance of the State Department's E family of bureaus, which engage in critical diplomacy related to energy and supply chains around the world. They help enhance America's economic security by engaging in bilateral and multilateral cooperation on issues ranging from critical minerals to space to our oceans and the environment.

The bill codifies economic diplomacy elements and functions at the State Department. The bill establishes a Bureau for Energy Security and Diplomacy and a new Assistant Secretary for Sanctions Policy to coordinate and strengthen sanctions policies at the State Department.

It codifies existing bureaus, such as the Water, Environment, and Space Affairs Bureau, the Economic and Business Affairs Bureau, as well as the Office of the Chief Economist and the Office of Subnational Diplomacy.

Taken together, this bill will make economic statecraft a more central part of the State Department and elevate the importance of economic security and commercial diplomacy as critical elements of U.S. foreign policy.

Mr. Speaker, I support this measure, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

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