Biden's Unilateral Executive Orders Are Harmful
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, in the first days of his administration, President Biden has taken a record-breaking number of executive actions and he has signed more executive orders than any President in recent history.
I am very proud this evening to be joined by some of my colleagues from the Congressional Western Caucus. As a group, we represent constituents across the country who have been negatively impacted by these actions of President Biden.
On his very first day in office, the President signed an executive order to revoke the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. This innovative, first-of-its-kind energy project has been in the works for years with local communities, numerous States, and even our neighbor to the north, Canada, investing heavily in its creation.
Also, on day one, President Biden directed his Acting Secretary of the Interior to issue a 60-day moratorium on new oil and gas leases on Federal lands. And then if that weren't enough, to complete the one-two punch, a week later, he extended that moratorium indefinitely.
Madam Speaker, I am confident my colleagues will echo this sentiment: It is unconscionable that President Biden would, during a global pandemic, eliminate thousands of jobs and prevent the creation of thousands more with one flick of his pen.
As you will hear from my colleagues, this action was thoughtless and devastating to the hundreds of communities and the millions of Americans who rely on the oil and gas industry, from labor unions, local small businesses, to rural school districts, conservationists, people all over the country.
His long-term goals may very well be well-intentioned, but, Madam Speaker, right now, in communities across the country, jobs, revenue, and investment are lost. They have just disappeared.
Madam Speaker, what does President Biden propose to do in the meantime? This truly can be described as an attack on American energy and American workers.
Over the last 4 years during the Trump administration, the United States has made huge strides toward energy independence, becoming the largest net exporter of energy in the world.
President Biden's actions will unilaterally undo this progress. It will threaten our energy security and leave thousands of hardworking American men and women without a job. President Biden has acted without any input or meaningful debate from the Members of this Congress who represent the people who are most affected by his orders.
Madam Speaker, tonight, we are here to make our voices and their voices heard. I am proud to be joined, as I said, with many of the outstanding members of the Congressional Western Caucus, and we have a lot of them who have a lot of great things to say.
My first guest is a new member of our executive committee. He comes from the State of Minnesota, where at least 50,000 jobs are supported by mining in his home State, a tremendous amount of economic activity.
So I am very pleased to yield to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Thank you, Congressman Stauber, in helping to put a human face onto the issue that we are speaking about. The real cost to American citizens, the loss of jobs cannot be understated and the impact to our communities and to families across this country. So thank you very much.
Madam Speaker, a lot of States will be impacted. The whole country will be. I am going to turn to someone from the great State of Texas, but you probably know this already: This ban from President Biden will eliminate 2 million jobs in the oil and gas industry in Texas alone--in one State.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin), from the Houston area, representing, I think, probably the epicenter of petroleum refining in this country, another fine Member of our Western Caucus.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Babin. I thank him for explaining to us and helping us understand the pipeline industry and what that does for our country, how it improves safety, and, certainly, our care for the environment as well.
Madam Speaker, I next turn to one to our newest Members--new to our caucus, but also to the House of Representatives--a young lady from the State of New Mexico. Yvette Herrell is doing just a great job in the short time that she has been here with us.
And let me just tell you a little bit about New Mexico. If you want an example of a State that is reliant on this industry, oil and gas, you have to look no farther than New Mexico.
You can correct me if I am wrong, but at least 134,000 jobs are supported by that industry. And I know it is a huge part of your State's economy.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Herrell).
Congresswoman Herrell, thank you very much for being with us.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Herrell. I appreciate her helping us understand the impact on the State of New Mexico, not just jobs but schools as well--$1 billion cost to the school districts of your State. I just can't imagine the long-term, detrimental impacts that that will bring.
Speaking of that, I turn to another gentleman from the State of Texas, someone I got to know very well on the Committee on Rules. Michael Burgess represents his district in Texas, and similar to what we just heard from New Mexico, I believe Texas school districts also, through property taxes on oil and gas production, on pipelines, on gas utilities receive at least $1 billion a year as well.
Dr. Burgess, thank you so much for being here this evening and helping us tell the American people the real impact of these decisions.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I think you are starting to get the message that it is clear: This is going to impact every citizen of this country. These wrongheaded decisions are impacting our way of life, our cost of living in so many different ways.
I don't know what the next speaker is going to talk about for sure, but I will make a guess that Bruce Westerman, who is our new ranking member of the Committee on Natural Resources, hailing from the State of Arkansas, may talk about a tree. I am not sure about that, but certainly, the natural resource impacts here are going to be real, and I always say people may not understand that. But we passed a huge bill last Congress--I am sure you remember the Land and Water Conservation Fund--which was part of a bigger piece of legislation. Well, guess where a lot of that money comes from to make that happen? It is from oil and gas leases. And I think the great State of Arkansas is set to get a lot of money in 2021 from that fund. And this is going to have an impact there.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), and thank him not only for his partnership and his activity and work on the Western Caucus, but also on the Committee on Natural Resources.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Westerman. I appreciate that very much, and I thank him for getting in that word ``tree.'' I appreciate that very much and for really helping us understand the true impacts not only to our economy but to our environment of these kinds of decisions.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany), another W State, which we have to stick together, a strong member of the Congressional Western Caucus. He comes from a State that also is set to receive a tremendous amount of funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which, again, is financed through oil and gas leases.
Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Tiffany for participating this evening, and I appreciate him being here.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Tiffany. Well- spoken. The economy, jobs, the environment, schools, national security, the impacts of these decisions are far and wide across this country.
One of the great things about a citizen legislative body is that we are made up of individuals from all walks of life, and I am very proud that we have, on the Western Caucus, a new member to the caucus and also a new member of our executive committee, but also someone whose family is one of these people who we are talking about whose jobs will be impacted by these decisions.
Madam Speaker, I am anxious to hear from our new Member from Colorado, and I thank her very much for being a part of this discussion, coming from a State that has tens of thousands of jobs that rely on this industry.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Boebert. I appreciate her strong voice on behalf of not only the people she represents, but people all over the country. I thank her for those very valuable comments.
Madam Speaker, as you can already tell, we have a very strong class of new Members this year. I would like to turn to another who comes from the State of Utah, a State that I don't think is the highest with Federal land ownership, but pretty darn close. Sixty-three percent, I understand, of the land in Blake Moore's State is under Federal ownership.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore). I know he has a great perspective on this issue, and I am very anxious to welcome him and give him the floor so that he can share with us his thoughts.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate that very much.
Continuing a theme of our strong freshman class, I turn to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann). This is kind of news to me. I didn't realize that Kansas is such a major producer of energy. I think of Kansas as wheat and corn, but energy is an important part of the economy. I don't think a lot of Americans understand truly the impact of these decisions in other States. I thank Congressman Mann for participating tonight.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate Congressman Mann's involvement in the Western Caucus.
The voices we have are strong, and we will continue to speak loudly and clearly about the impact of some of these decisions.
Madam Speaker, you probably have guessed that the State of Texas has been impacted tremendously by these decisions. I am very pleased to have a gentleman from the State of Texas. Congressman Chip Roy is someone whom I have come to know and respect for his clearheaded thinking on so many different issues, and I know he can speak firsthand about the oil and gas industry and the impact to our economy.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Madam Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Roy's strong voice and leadership on the Republican Conference. I appreciate very much his being part of this evening's discussion. Words couldn't be truer.
Madam Speaker, I want to thank you for your attention and listening to the message that we have.
Let me ask you a question: Could you imagine if former President Trump had signed an executive order during the middle of this pandemic to unilaterally kill thousands of jobs?
What would you say would happen?
It would be a national outrage.
Well, President Biden's reckless executive actions are a national outrage. As you have heard, Americans in rural communities across the country--in fact, in urban areas, too--will suffer because of this ban.
The Western Caucus advocates for responsible land and resource management. I can assure you that we will continue to be a strong voice for rural America. We will do everything in our power to fight for their livelihoods in the face of these devastating decisions by President Biden. So we--I, tonight, call on President Biden to please revoke and reverse these actions.
I appreciate your attention, Madam Speaker, and the opportunity to express our views on this very important issue, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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