Speaker 1 (00:00):
The price of pretty much everything that you buy is affected by the cost of energy. If you look at what energy impacts, it certainly impacts the cost of transportation, fuel, impacts and increases the cost of heating and fueling our homes, increases the cost of groceries. Energy is a factor in literally everything that we do and contributes in a big way to the inflationary impact the American people have experienced over the past four years. Republicans here in the Senate are very interested in making sure that we have an all-of-the-above energy strategy that puts the focus on making America energy-dominant. And what the Democrats on the other hand do if they don't like something, they tax and regulate it to death. And if they do like something, they force a mandate on the American people like they did with electric vehicles.
(00:52)
Well, this week we're going to be focusing on trying to drive down the cost of energy in this country, which by the way, in the last four years under the Biden administration, energy increased 30%, 30%. Think about that and the impact that has on the American people's pocketbooks. They understand and get this issue. They agree with us. And so this week, we're going to be moving a couple of continuing, or I shouldn't say continuing, Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval across the floor, one with Senator Kennedy, one with Senator Holman, both of which get at this issue of making energy in this country more available and more affordable to the American people.
(01:31)
That is a very different model than what you got for the last four years from the Democrats. But Republicans in the Senate and in the House of Representatives working with President Trump, who has made American energy dominance a key issue of his administration, we're going to be doing everything we can to open up energy production in this country and make it easier, not harder, and less expensive, not more expensive to create energy dominance for the American people, and thereby lower the cost that they pay literally on almost everything that they buy.
(02:03)
Starting with Senator Kennedy, and he's going to speak to the CRA resolution of disapproval that we're going to be voting on and then followed by Senator Holman, who I believe is right here too. Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy (02:19):
Since 1938, we have drilled over 6,000 oil and gas wells in the Gulf of America and built thousands of miles of pipeline. To do that, the oil and gas industry has had to spend billions of dollars to survey every square inch of the seabed in the Gulf. Every square inch has been surveyed and X-ray. We found 4,000 shipwrecks.
(02:59)
In the waning days of the Biden administration, BOEM promulgated a new rule that says if you want to drill a well or build a pipeline, you've got to survey it again. This, of course, increases the cost of drilling, which of course increases the cost of energy because the extra cost is passed on to the consumer, which of course hurts us in our fight to lower prices. This regulation is just one example of why we're experiencing inflation in America today.
(03:43)
My resolution would rescind this rule. I'm not saying that the guy who came up with this idea of this rule is the dumbest person in the world, but I am saying that the guy who came up with this idea for this rule, better hope that the dumbest person in the world doesn't die, and we're going to kill it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven (04:16):
In 2002, the Democrats, without any Republican votes, passed the so-called and completely misnamed Inflation Reduction Act in that they included their Green New Deal, which included a lot of spending, but to add insult to injury, they also then put a tax on natural gas, something everybody uses to heat their homes, to cook their food. Every day, folks are using natural gas and in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats put a tax on methane, on natural gas. So essentially what the CRA Congressional Review Act resolution that I'm putting forward does is it repeals that tax on natural gas.
(05:02)
And the IRA Inflation Reduction Act should have been called the IAA, the Inflation Acceleration Act, because that's just exactly what it did, taking inflation to 9%, not only with spending like the Green New Deal, but by putting a tax, if you can believe it, on natural gas that every single American uses every single day. That hits the low-income people the hardest.
(05:28)
And to put it into perspective, since 1990, we have reduced emissions from natural gas by 20%. Now, that sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Since 1990, we've reduced overall emissions by 20%. And in that time, we've doubled the production of natural gas. Do the math on that one. We have the best environmental standards in the world, and so the solution for the Democrats is to tax it, get less of it, and get it from countries with worse environmental standards. Beyond ridiculous. We're going to repeal it.
(06:05)
So thanks to Republicans and President Trump who's going to get inflation under control with a whole variety of things, including making America energy-dominant once again, we're going to produce more energy here at home. Energy security is national security. It's jobs, it's economic growth, and it's going to help bring prices down for consumers across this country.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Questions for Senators Kennedy or Hoeven? All right, any other questions?
Senator Kennedy (06:35):
Can I go?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You're dismissed.
Senator Kennedy (06:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Was it appropriate for the US to vote against the UN resolution that named Russia as the aggressor in the war against Ukraine? And also, do you think Putin can be trusted to stick to any peace deal negotiated?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Well, I've stated my views, I think, as you know, on who started the war, but I do think right now what we're trying to do is get a peace deal. This is a horrific war that's gone on for 10 years with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and the administration's trying to bring it to an end. And so right now,, I think we give them space and let's see if they can bring a resolution to a war that has cost way too many lives Already.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Some of your own Republican colleagues have expressed concerns about the meat cleaver way that Doge is doing cuts. Some say that it's lacking humanity, it's lacking compassion. Do you have any concerns about the human cost of the cuts that Doge is making? Some of these federal workers who are losing their jobs, who have been working as federal workers for sometimes decades?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I think that any process you undergo where you're trying to find efficiencies, and if that involves some reductions in force, it needs to be done in a respectful way. Obviously that's respectful of people involved. But I do think as they go through this process, the objective of Doge is to try and figure out ways to make government run more efficiently, more effectively and reduce its cost and make sure that the American taxpayer is getting a good deal on the tax dollars that they put into the federal government.
(08:21)
So I think right now, there are different tactics being deployed to do that. I would simply say what I've said earlier, and that is that we want to do everything we can, and I think this has been long overdue, to try and figure out how we can make government work more efficiently, cost the taxpayers less and make sure that they get a good return on the tax dollars that they spend in this country. But I would also argue, again, that in anything that they do, they need to be respectful of people that are involved in these agencies and departments of government.
Speaker 6 (08:53):
Now that the majority of President Trump's cabinet nominees are confirmed, should they be the ones making the decisions on personnel instead of Elon Musk?
Speaker 1 (09:01):
I think that's why we work so hard to get these folks confirmed, and they're now in a position to make those decisions. And I think some of them already asserted that, right, to make those decisions. These are very capable people that are going to be responsible for running big departments and agencies and overseeing thousands of employees, and they ought to do everything they can to try and make their departments work more efficiently and to find savings. And in many cases, they are going to make those decisions on their own. And I think that's, if you've seen that already, some of them have asserted that right, and I think the administration, at least at this point, is providing some latitude for their managers of these departments and agencies to move forward.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
[inaudible 00:09:45] is continuing resolution the only way to avoid a shutdown at this point?
Speaker 1 (09:51):
We're keeping all options on the table, but we are running out of time. So I think that realistically, we have to think about how can we fund the government, make sure there isn't a government shutdown. And I only remind people that we are in this position because last year, even after the Senate Appropriations Committee passed 11 of the 12 appropriation bills out of the committee, the Democrats under Leader Schumer didn't bring a single appropriation bill to the floor of the United States Senate and they were available for the last six months of last year. So we have a pile up right now created by the Democrats own making, and now they are publicly talking about shutting the government down. Ironic, I would say. But we will do everything we can to make sure that the government stays up and running and what form that takes remains to be seen, but we're working all the options. So thank you.