Energy Regulations

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, on one final matter, the Obama administration recently published massive energy regulations that will not do a thing to meaningfully affect global carbon levels. It will not make a noticeable difference to the global environment. But it will ship more middle-class jobs overseas. It will punish the poor. It will make it even harder for coal families in States such as Kentucky to put food on the table. In other words, it is facts-optional extremism wrapped in callous indifference. Senators from both parties are saying: Enough is enough.

We filed bipartisan measures that would allow Congress to overturn these two-pronged regressive regulations. I joined Senator Heitkamp and Senator Capito on a measure that would address the prong that pertains to the existing energy sources. Senator Manchin joined me as I introduced a measure that would address the prong that pertains to new energy sources. Together these measures represent a comprehensive solution. Colleagues will join me to speak about these resolutions later today. I am sure they will say more about the measures we filed and the process associated with them.

But what everyone should know is this: The publication of these regulations does not represent an end but a beginning. It is the beginning of a new front to defend hard-working middle-class Americans from massive, massive regulations that target them. That front is opening here in Congress, and it is opening across the country as States file lawsuits and Governors stand up for their own middle-class constituents. The battle may not be short, and the battle may not be easy, but Kentuckians and hard-working Americans should know that I am going to keep standing up for them throughout this effort.

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