Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, our chairman, for yielding this time. I rise today in support of H.R. 3062, the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act.

Mr. Speaker, our hardworking energy developers need a clear framework to expand America's energy footprint, not more bureaucracy and uncertainty.

My colleague talked about energy prices. Well, just look at the gas pump. I mean, the gas pump is down substantially.

Here is the problem: With your baseload energy production, the past administration threw it into total chaos because we know that baseload is the only way that we can reliably produce the electricity and the demand in the future that we are going to need to expand this economy.

I mean, we are in a race in AI with China. We have to produce more electricity. There was a war on baseload electricity, an absolute war. These people did not know if they were going to survive this war. Here is the deal: If you don't provide more baseload, your price is going to go up. We have to grow baseload in this country. The only way to reduce energy prices is competition and more energy.

Every Member in this Chamber and the American people have witnessed the drastic consequence of this antidomestic energy policy championed by the previous administration, which led to record-high gas prices, severe job loss, and dependence on foreign oil.

We have to fix this. We have a solution. You have got to fix these problems. I mean, I am really tired of having to fix all the problems that they created. We have got to do this if we are going to survive this thing.

Under this House majority and administration, it is just no longer the American way. We promised the American people energy dominance. We had that just 6 years ago. Can you imagine? We were energy dominant. We set the price of a barrel of oil just 6 years ago.

What happened?

The bill before us today is a necessary, much-needed solution to ensure in the future we do not face the brunt of reckless executive actions like the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline.

We have already heard about the horrible results of that, including the amount of money that was put forward, and now the developer is not going forward. That project would have provided a safe and reliable way to transport energy resources between the United States and our neighbor to the north, Canada. It would have created tens of thousands of jobs, as my colleague earlier said, strengthening our energy security and generating billions of revenue to boost economic growth.

Don't listen to this chatter out here. Talk to the folks in the energy business. Let's give this back to the people in the energy business. They know how to produce energy. They are in business to produce energy. They know we have to have baseload.

I am for all-in energy. Let's do it all. I think every one of us, we have to have more energy.

All of this progress that we made was cut short by the stroke of a pen just 4 years ago, leading the developer to abandon the XL pipeline, as I mentioned earlier. We cannot allow that to happen again.

H.R. 3062 would require the President to receive congressional approval before revoking any previously issued permits related to the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural gas pipelines. We cannot let an administration put us in this position ever again.

It would also streamline the permitting process for projects that connect U.S. energy resources with international markets, establishing a clear regulatory framework so energy developers can tackle projects with confidence and certainty.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have supported the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act in the Energy and Commerce Committee and look forward to getting it passed by the full House. I strongly urge a ``yes'' vote.

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