House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) is looking to rally support behind a sweeping energy bill that Republicans are making their top priority for the 118th Congress.
HR 1 — the Lower Energy Costs Act, which is being led by the Louisiana Republican — aims to reform the permitting process for energy production, limit executive authority, roll back parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, and bar bans on fracking in an effort proponents argue will bolster domestic energy production.
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“We won’t have to be dependent on just … China for critical minerals for things like computer chips and electric car batteries. It gets rid of the natural gas tax that President Biden put in place last year that’s costing families billions of dollars in additional energy taxes, so that repeal helps,” Scalise told the Washington Examiner. “There are a lot of big wins for hardworking families in this bill. And I hope that President Biden reverses course and supports it just like in the D.C. crime bill.”
The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) asserting that it is dead in the Democratic-controlled upper chamber. But Scalise is calling for the measure to receive bipartisan support, asserting that he believes the legislation is in the best interest of the country.
“Why wouldn’t any Democrats want to vote for this? We’re going to give them an opportunity. I mean, every member of Congress has heard from families who are struggling, high cost of energy, and it hits lower-income people the hardest. You know, Joe Biden, just because the far Left wanted to wage a war on American fossil fuels, again caved into the most extreme elements of his party, but it’s been at the expense of hardworking families. So if they just looked themselves in the mirror and admitted that this experiment failed, then they would join with us and pass this bill and get a big dividend back in the pockets of hardworking families,” he said.
“This would increase the paychecks of families all across America if this bill passed,” he added.
Scalise said the House GOP leadership team deliberated over what should be their most pressing priority and ultimately determined high-energy costs were a crucial issue that affect costs for families.
“Obviously Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy [R-CA] was very involved in this from making it one of the key parts of our ‘Commitment to America,’” he said.
Outside conservative groups are heavily advocating the measure, with American Action Network pouring $1.5 million into an ad campaign running in 12 swing districts held by Democrats.
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“It’s a topic that just about every Republican has been talking about for years now that it makes no sense that we’re shutting down American energy when we know how to make it better than anybody else in the world,” he said.
“We have a lot of bills that … the three relevant committees, Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Transportation, have brought forward over the last two years, and [former Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-CA] wouldn’t let any of those bills come to the floor. So, you know, it was a no-brainer that when [we] looked at what’s the issue that that’s been the most unifying and one that we’ve been the most vocal on … since President Biden took office,” he added.
