{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2025-02-26-pt1-PgS1367-3", "2025-02-26", 119, 1, null, null, "LEGISLATIVE SESSION", "SENATE", "SENATE", "SLEGISLATIVE", "S1367", "S1383", "[{\"name\": \"Tim Kaine\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Martin Heinrich\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Mark R. Warner\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"John Hoeven\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"James Lankford\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Deb Fischer\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"James C. Justice\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Mike Lee\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Lisa Murkowski\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Jeanne Shaheen\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Sheldon Whitehouse\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Richard Blumenthal\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"John W. Hickenlooper\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Chris Van Hollen\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Richard J. Durbin\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Mark Kelly\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SJRES\", \"number\": \"10\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SJRES\", \"number\": \"10\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"750\"}]", "171 Cong. Rec. S1367", "Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2025)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S1367-S1383]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION\n\n                                 ______\n\n   TERMINATING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARED WITH RESPECT TO ENERGY\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now resume legislative\nsession.\n  The Senator from Virginia.\n\n                              S.J. Res. 10\n\n  Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise to begin a discussion that will take\nplace, during today, about S.J. Res. 10, which is a resolution that my\ncolleague Senator Heinrich and I have filed to challenge President\nTrump's day-one declaration of a U.S. energy emergency.\n  And you will hear from a number of our colleagues today, expressing\nthe basic point that the declaration is a sham. There is, in fact, no\nemergency, but it has been declared so as to gut various environmental\nlaws passed by Congress, still part of U.S. statutory law, in order to\nadvantage certain kinds of energy--i.e., oil, gas, and coal--and punish\nother forms of energy--wind, solar, et cetera.\n  I am very, very happy to have the support of my colleague Senator\nHeinrich, who is the energy expert on the Democratic side in this body,\nand very, very happy to have so many colleagues who will be speaking on\nthis matter today on the Senate floor.\n  President Trump took a number of actions on his first day in office,\nand many of them got a lot of attention. One that didn't get so much\nattention was his decision, on day one--on day one--to declare that the\nUnited States was in an energy emergency and, therefore, we needed to\nbypass environmental laws.\n  I want to dig into the sham nature of the emergency declaration and\nthen explore why President Trump actually has done this, and, finally,\nconclude with a request to my colleagues that the article I branch\nshould not just roll over and play dead when a President\n\n[[Page S1368]]\n\ndeclares an emergency that does not actually exist.\n  So let's first talk about the claim that President Trump has raised\nthat the United States is in an energy emergency.\n  This is a chart that shows U.S. energy production from 1950 until\nessentially today. The chart goes through about 2023 and does not\ninclude the 2024 numbers. But I am proud to stand here and tell you,\nespecially as one who has supported many of the policies that have led\nto this growth in American energy, that America is producing more\nenergy today than at any point in the history of this Nation. America\nis the leader in the world in energy production, and for the last few\nyears, we have been an energy surplus nation, producing more than we\nconsume.\n  You will see that the chart includes different kinds of energy--oil,\ngas, coal, renewable--but the direction of the chart shows steady\nincrease in production.\n  Let's go into the kinds of energy we are talking about here. In 2024,\nAmerica produced more natural gas than at any time in the history of\nthis country. In 2024, America produced more petroleum than at any time\nin the history of this country. And in 2024, America deployed more\nrenewable energy than at any time in the history of this country. In\nfact, in 2024, more than 90 percent of the energy added to the Nation's\nenergy grid was from renewable sources--wind, solar, and battery\nstorage.\n  The United States, recently, in the past few years became--there may\nbe a technical term for this, but I call it an energy surplus nation.\nWe produce more than we consume. That moment happened in 2019, when our\nproduction started to outpace consumption. In every year since 2019,\nthat surplus has grown, and the surplus in 2024 was at record levels.\nAnd it is a good thing to produce significantly more than we consume.\n  Why is it a good thing? Because we are able to sell energy to others,\nreducing our trade deficit.\n  I participated with Senators in lifting the ban on export of crude\npetroleum a few years ago, and that plus exports of liquid natural gas\nhave helped us with our trade deficit. But more directly related to\nthis moment in time, the export of American energy has also helped us\nhelp other nations that are reliant on energy from petrol dictators.\nThe nations in Europe that had to rely on Vladimir Putin, nations in\nother parts of the world that have had to rely on Iran or Venezuela,\nnow, increasingly, are able to access U.S. energy.\n\n  I was in Finland over the weekend, visiting Virginia Guard troops\nexercising with the Finnish Army. Finland is importing liquid natural\ngas from the United States and using it for their own energy needs and\nalso for the energy needs of other European nations.\n  So where is the emergency? More oil than ever, more natural gas than\never, more renewables than ever, and a record surplus of production\nover consumption.\n  Where is the emergency? The emergency is not in the energy sector.\nThe emergency is Donald Trump self-creating an emergency, because\nDonald Trump in other actions taken in the first week of his\nadministration has gone full tilt to challenge energy projects that are\ncreating jobs and lowering prices all across this country.\n  Donald Trump and his administration are attacking wind projects. They\nare attacking solar projects. They are attacking clean energy projects\nthat aren't oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear. And by doing so, they\nare reducing supply and likely raising prices on American consumers.\n  There are a number of projects in Virginia, as an example, that have\nbenefited from tax breaks that were included either in the Inflation\nReduction Act, for clean energy projects, or the bipartisan\ninfrastructure law, for rollout of electric vehicle charging, for\nexample. President Trump's administration has attacked those projects,\nhas put them on hold, and the Virginians who were intending to invest\nbillions of dollars hiring people to build these projects are now\nuncertain about what they can do.\n  Why would a President declare an energy emergency and then attack\nhomegrown clean energy projects in my State and elsewhere? And that is\nexactly what President Trump is doing.\n  Why would he do that? Well, we don't have to speculate about the\nanswer. We know the answer.\n  In the summer of 2024, President Trump held a meeting at Mar-a-Lago\nwith the CEOs of major oil and gas companies, and they reported upon\nthe substance of that meeting. And here is a headline from the\nGuardian, and other publications carried the same news: ``Trump\npromised to scrap climate laws if U.S. oil bosses donated $1 billion''\nto his campaign.\n  One of the oil executives at the meeting quoted Donald Trump saying:\n``You'll get it on the first day.'' Oil and gas will get preferential\ntreatment on the first day, with end runs around environmental laws\npassed by Congress that are still part of the statutes we take an oath\nto implement in our jobs. And, in fact, the oil and gas guys did get it\non the first day.\n  What did the Trump fake energy emergency deliver to those he had\npromised to support? Here is what was delivered in the emergency order.\nThe President said: There is an emergency, and so we need to bypass\nlaws passed by Congress. We need to bypass the Clean Air Act. We need\nto bypass the Clean Water Act. We need to bypass the Endangered Species\nAct, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Historic\nPreservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act.\n  Because of this fake emergency that he has created out of thin air,\nwe need to take all of these laws that Congress has passed--many of\nwhich have been in statute, like the Clean Water Act, for more than 50\nyears--and we need to give energy producers and transmitters the\nability to bypass these laws in order to produce and transmit energy.\n  It is interesting, though. When you read the Executive order, it\ntalks about energy production, but you have to go to the last section\nof the order to read what ``energy'' means. And President Trump is\ncalling for a national emergency and bypassing all of these laws, if\nyou want to produce using oil or gas or coal or nuclear or hydro, but\nnot for wind, not for solar, not for clean battery storage. If your\nhomegrown American low-cost energy is wind, solar, and battery storage,\nyou don't get to bypass environmental laws. You have to comply with the\nletter of the law as Congress intends. We are only giving a break to\nthe guys who supported Donald Trump, the fossil fuel industry.\n\n  Donald Trump is so willing to give away the farm to Big Oil and Gas\nthat he even, in the first provision in the emergency order, said: We\nalso need to bypass property rights. He encouraged Federal Agencies to\nmake aggressive use of eminent domain to produce fossil fuel energy.\n  Those watching understand what this means. Eminent domain is the\ngovernment taking the land from private property owners, and there is a\nset of rules in the Federal Code about when you can use eminent domain\nfor energy projects, but Donald Trump has said: You know what, if you\nwant to do oil, coal, and gas, you don't have to follow the rules. You\ncan even take people's private property by bypassing the rules for oil,\ngas, and coal--but, of course, not for wind and solar, not for wind,\nsolar, and battery, the clean energy that has been 95 percent of the\npower added to the grid just last year.\n  So we know what the game is. ``You'll get it on the first day,'' Big\nOil, and they did. And Donald Trump is now giving them an E-ZPass lane\nto speed by clean energy projects that are lower cost and cleaner\nbecause he told them he would do it if they supported his campaign.\n  This is no emergency. It was declared for a corrupt purpose, and it\nis an unacceptable effort to undermine laws passed by the article I\nbranch. And so I am on the floor with my colleague Senator Heinrich--\nand I am going to yield to him in a second--to just ask Congress: Be\nCongress. Be the article I branch. If a President can just stand up and\nmake up an emergency and then gut laws that Congress passed, what is to\nstop President Trump from making up another emergency and gutting other\nlaws? What is to stop any President, Republican or Democrat, from\nfabricating a complete emergency and using it to gut laws that Congress\nhas passed?\n  You know, if President Trump doesn't like the Clean Water Act--I\nhappen to like it. I don't think it is perfect. But the Clean Water Act\nhas\n\n[[Page S1369]]\n\nhelped us to restore the James River in the city of Richmond, where I\nlive, which won an international river prize a couple years ago as the\nmost improved river in the United States. A river that was a sewer,\nthat was closed off to fishing for 50 years, now has fishing, swimming,\nrafting, kayaking, bald eagles that had been extinct along the river\nbecause of chemicals now breeding in one of the most dense population\nof bald eagles in the United States. I like the Clean Water Act. I\nthink it served a valuable purpose for 50-plus years, but maybe\nPresident Trump, who was elected, has decided that the Clean Water Act\nor the Clean Air Act or property rights protections have outlived their\nusefulness.\n  And if he has decided that these laws have outlived their usefulness,\nwell, he has got two Republican Houses. He can introduce a bill to\nrepeal the Clean Air Act or repeal the Clean Water Act. That would be\nthe right way to do this, not invent a bogus fake emergency and\nunilaterally gut these laws.\n  But the President has got a problem. If he introduced the bill to\nrepeal the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, not even\nRepublicans--some Republicans would--but not even Republicans would\nsupport it. In two Republican Houses, he would have zero luck in\nrepealing these laws that have protected the public health and the\nenvironment. So his attitude is, Wow, I could benefit my Big Oil\ncronies by repealing these laws, but that is a nonstarter in the\narticle I branch. So why don't I kick the article I branch to the side,\ncreate a fake emergency, end-run them, and that is how I benefit my\ncronies.\n  Congress should stand up against this and vote for S.J. Res. 10\nbecause it is the right policy, and we shouldn't gut these provisions,\nexcept by doing it in the course of ordinary legislative business,\nshould that be the will of the appropriate majority of both bodies.\nThat would be the way to do this.\n  So I am asking my colleagues to stand up and support S.J. Res. 10.\nThis would be horrible policy. But more than a horrible policy on these\nlaws, it would also set a horrible precedent, a precedent that a\nPresident of either party can invent a sham emergency and then grab\naway from Congress powers that Congress has under article I.\n  Let's not be sheep in this place. Let's not have this be the\n``Silence of the Lambs,'' just doing whatever Donald Trump says he\nwants to do, with the article I branch not saying or mumbling a word,\nnot willing to issue a peep, not showing a backbone, not showing a\nvoice. We have got a backbone; we have got a voice; but more\nimportantly, we took an oath to a Constitution that gives Congress\ncertain powers. We should not let the President trample on those\npowers.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). The Senator from New Mexico.\n  Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from\nVirginia for bringing this resolution to the floor.\n  And it was a little less than a year ago, I met with workers at\nseveral manufacturing facilities in New Mexico. These are the workers\nwho are making the solar and wind technologies that are generating\nrecord quantities of clean, affordable, American-made energy. And at a\ngroundbreaking ceremony for Array Technologies, at their factory in\nAlbuquerque, I met with over a dozen New Mexicans, and they told me\nabout the impact of our investments on their lives, their abilities to\nsupport their families.\n  I talked with folks like Ramon Romero, who joined Array Technologies\nas an entry-level machinist, worked his way up to have a career as a\nproduction manager.\n  I met with Daniel Beltran, who explained how Array's expansion has\ncreated new job opportunities for himself and many others in his\ncommunity. He told me that the company's growth has been ``life-\nchanging'' for him.\n  And I met with Ray Muddaluri, who spoke about how significant a role\nArray has played in supporting her growth as a young professional and\nher ability to serve her community.\n  Here is what every one of those New Mexicans had in common: They were\nable to create better lives for themselves, better lives for their\nfamilies, because of the jobs that were available for them. This is\nwhat I mean when I say these industries, these clean industries, are\ncreating careers that New Mexicans and other Americans can build their\nfamilies around in their home communities.\n  And thanks to the investments that Democrats made in the last few\nyears, we have seen record growth in new American manufacturing\nfacilities. More than 400,000 new jobs have been announced across the\ncountry as a part of this ``Made in America'' clean and affordable\nenergy manufacturing boom. In New Mexico, we celebrated the first wind\ntowers coming off the line at Arcosa Wind Towers, a new factory in\nBelen. It was a shuttered plastics factory. And now Arcosa's workers\nare creating the huge steel towers. They are heading straight to the\nSunZia Wind and Transmission Project, a 3\\1/2\\ gigawatt project. That\nproject, SunZia, brought in more than $20 billion to States like New\nMexico and Arizona in capital.\n  And when it comes online, it is going to generate more clean power\nwith its wind turbines than the Hoover Dam. It is the largest ever\nbuilt clean energy project in the Western Hemisphere. America is\nactually building big things again. So these projects have enormous\nscope.\n  But our affordable, American-made energy boom is already under threat\nbecause of the uncertainty that President Trump has foisted on the\nenergy sector.\n  And if you are thinking about opening a new factory, like Array or\nArcosa did in my State, you don't know what your tax structure will be\nafter the Republicans take up their Trump tax bill. If you are trying\nto site and build a new transmission line, the Federal Agencies and the\nstaff that you work with just had their expert staff sacked, making it\nhard to get a permit when no one is on the other end of the phone.\n  And thanks to Trump's so-called national energy emergency, many of\nthe lowest cost, 100-percent clean additions to our grid can't get\npermits.\n  Make no mistake, Americans' electric bills are going to go up. I am\ngoing to say that again: Americans' electric bills are going to go up\nbecause Trump and his loyal Republicans are picking winners and losers\non the power grid.\n  That is why I am joining my friend and colleague Senator Kaine to\nforce a vote to put an end to all of this before any more damage is\ndone.\n  And I want to be clear about something, and certainly Senator Kaine\nraised this point, but America is the world's leading energy producer.\nAnd before Trump injected all of this uncertainty, our country was\nproducing record quantities of both conventional and clean advanced\nenergy. There is no energy emergency. It was made up to skirt the law.\nIt was made up to favor some sources and not others.\n  But if Trump gets his way, his faux declaration may very well create\na real emergency, an energy emergency and an economic emergency.\n  I also want to be clear to my colleagues across the aisle that this\nclean energy phenomenon has created 400,000 jobs around the country.\nBut most of them--most of them--are in Republican-led States. This is\nnot a red States or a blue States issue. This is about good-paying,\nblue-collar, skilled jobs in all of our States.\n  So what is at risk because of all of this? Let's take a look. In\nNorth Carolina, there is a new nearly $13 billion--with a ``b''--$13\nbillion Toyota battery plant, which will employ 5,000 workers.\n  Where are we getting our batteries now? We are getting them from\nChina. This is progress. This is putting Americans to work to make\nbatteries here.\n  In Louisiana, First Solar announced a billion dollars for a new solar\nenergy project that is projected to create 700 new jobs, making that\ntechnology here, not being dependent on China.\n  In Kentucky, Ford is building a new battery plant, which will employ\nanother 5,000 workers and manufacture batteries here instead of China.\n  In Georgia, an estimated billion dollars in projects to modernize the\npower grid--and our power grid needs a heck of a lot of modernization.\nWe are going to have more and more demands on this grid in coming\nyears, especially with the growth of data centers and AI--a billion\ndollars sidelined to upgrade that power grid in Georgia.\n  Do we really want all these jobs to disappear because President Trump\n\n[[Page S1370]]\n\nwants to create a war on affordable, American-made, clean energy? Do we\nwant to import more batteries from China? I don't because that is what\nis going to happen if we turn our backs on these factories and these\nenergy sources.\n  And among other things, Trump's so-called national energy emergency\ndeclaration would allow his administration to use eminent domain, one\nof the most controversial powers that a government can have, to take\nprivate land for oil and gas infrastructure at the expense of our\nAmerican jobs and livelihoods.\n  As we speak, President Trump's chaos and incompetence are\njeopardizing and fueling the real energy emergency in our country.\nTrump's plans to eliminate dozens of advanced energy tax credits, those\nhave unleashed more than $165 billion in private sector capital, moving\ninto over 1,000 factories and expansions across the country.\n  The President has also halted many of the Department of Energy's loan\nguarantees, which will further jeopardize the U.S. energy manufacturing\nexpansion and will lead to higher energy bills for millions of\nAmericans.\n  This is blatant hypocrisy, as Trump's favorite billionaire ``bro''\nElon Musk actually took a $465 million Federal loan guarantee from that\nsame Department that literally saved Tesla from bankruptcy in 2010.\n  And when these massive, multibillion-dollar construction projects\nstall, it is not Trump's billionaire friends who will suffer; it is\neveryday Americans who work in these factories. It is all the families\nwho will be stuck with higher electric bills.\n\n  I want to emphasize something that my colleague from Virginia raised.\nMore than 90 percent of the electricity generation projects currently\nin line to connect to the grid all across this Nation--in red States\nand in blue States--waiting interconnection are clean energy projects.\nThey are wind, solar, storage, nuclear.\n  Just last year, 93 percent--93 percent--of new electricity generation\nwas carbon-free. That is a record. We added 52 gigawatts--50 nuclear\npower generating station quantities' worth--of solar, wind, and storage\nto the grid in the last year alone. There is a reason for that. In\naddition to being clean and carbon-free--and many of the big companies\nthat procure energy care about that--these power sources are cheaper,\nthey are faster, they are less capital-intensive than older\ntechnologies, like coal-fired plants or gas turbines.\n  Put simply, clean energy is the cheapest electricity on the grid. You\ncan see it right here. Onshore wind and solar are by far the cheapest.\nWe have combined cycle natural gas.\n  Guess what? You can't get a gas turbine these days. If you order a\ncombined cycle natural gas turbine today, you are going to wait 3, 4, 5\nyears before that is actually delivered, without permitting.\n  Nuclear is great. I hope we build more of it, but we have to get the\ncost down. It is 18 cents a kilowatt hour, average.\n  If we don't plug these clean sources into the grid, especially at a\ntime of surging demand, the outcome is obvious: Prices will go up. And\nit is not physically possible to stand up enough costly gas plants to\nkeep growing power demands and keep prices down. As I said, the wait\ntimes to just get a turbine is 4 or 5 years.\n  If Trump has his way and he keeps blocking American-made clean energy\nprojects, we know that significantly higher energy and electricity\ncosts are on the way. Is that what we want to do? We want to impose on\nworking families that are already struggling to pay for eggs--if they\nhaven't crossed that off their grocery list already--the rising cost of\nmilk, groceries going through the roof, rent payments going up--we are\ngoing increase their electric rates because that is what this fake\nemergency is going to do.\n  A couple of weeks ago, an Alabama utility company sent a letter to\ncustomers saying: Sorry, you owe us another $100 because what we\ncredited you based on the law is no longer valid. Trump's EO took that\naway, so pony up. Write us another $100 in your electric bill this\nmonth.\n  That is just the tip of the iceberg.\n  Advanced groups who do the analysis, folks like the Rhodium Group,\nhave looked at what his crusade will mean regarding American clean\nenergy investments and electricity costs. And they say that, on\naverage, American families' electricity bills could go up by nearly\n$500 a year as a result of these actions.\n  Trump's war on American-made clean energy is going to kill thousands\nof jobs in the skilled trades. Huge construction projects are going to\nget stalled. The biggest winner in all of this is going to be China.\nChina wants to become even more dominant in the global renewable energy\nmarketplace. They will happily take the private investment that could\nhave gone to the United States and take those jobs back overseas. The\nbiggest loser from this is our economic competitiveness, our national\nsecurity, our families.\n  Trump has claimed that his so-called natural energy emergency order\nis needed to unleash more American fossil fuel development. He is also\nwrong about that. Not only is our production--13 million barrels a day\non average; a little over that--not a record-producing number, but oil\nand gas executives will tell you the truth.\n  Look at what ConocoPhillips' CEO said in response to a question about\nthis: Would he really increase production with the gloves coming off?\nHe said, ``Not really.'' Why is that? Because American oil and gas\nproduction is already at a record high, and it is not economically\nadvantageous to push production further. I know this firsthand because\nwe are producing more oil and gas in New Mexico than most other States\ncombined, with the exception of one.\n  Clearly, we need to put an end to this stuff that will fuel a real\nenergy emergency, kill thousands of jobs, and raise electricity costs\non American families. The most important decision of our energy\nfuture--worth hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector\ninvestment, factories, thousands of high-quality jobs--remains in the\nhands of our Senate Republican colleagues.\n  If you want to have an ``all of the above'' approach, if you want to\ncontinue to bring down energy costs, if you want to protect jobs for\nhard-working Americans in our States, and to help America remain the\nglobal leader in energy production, I would urge you to vote in support\nof this resolution and against higher electricity bills.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.\n  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today in support of my\ncolleagues'--Senator Heinrich and Senator Kaine--resolution. I\nappreciate their part of the presentations, but I strongly support this\nresolution. I want to also acknowledge one of many reasons we vote for\nthis resolution is because it is also Senator Kaine's birthday. I think\nnothing would be a better birthday present for my friend of 40, 45\nyears than having this body make a firm statement about being against\nrising utility costs.\n  The resolution--I know they both spoke on it extensively--would\nrepeal President Trump's flawed and misguided national emergency\ndeclaration.\n  We all know on the first day in the midst of signing Lord knows how\nmany Executive orders, President Trump declared a ``National Energy\nEmergency'' and issued an Executive order titled ``Unleashing American\nEnergy.''\n  Let me be clear. Frankly, I have some fights on this side of the\naisle because I actually support all of the above in terms of our\nenergy mix. Part of that does mean LNG--and for national security\nreasons, to make sure we ship it to our partners in Europe.\n  It also means we need to bring more of these energy jobs back here to\nAmerica. I was at a fascinating presentation yesterday with the CEO of\nCommonwealth Fusion. Commonwealth Fusion is a company out of\nMassachusetts, but they are making a major development in Virginia. We\nhave been talking about fusion since the seventies. Those kind of jobs\nought to be here in America, and they can provide an abundance of\nenergy.\n  But if you actually read the President's Executive order, you will\nsee he is not really about promoting energy security. He is interested\nin, frankly, only favoring certain parts of the energy sector. I think\nthat is a huge mistake.\n  I have the honor of having been the chair of the Intelligence\nCommittee. I\n\n[[Page S1371]]\n\nam now the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee. One of the things\nwe tried to do on the Intelligence Committee is redefine national\nsecurity so it is not simply who has the most tanks and guns but who\nwins the battle for technology. If we are going to win the battle for\ntechnology and, particularly, in AI, that is going to require enormous\namounts of additional energy in the United States.\n  It is terribly important that the United States remains in its role\nnow as being the world's energy leader. But the truth is, China has\nalso made this kind of commitment. In certain ways, China--although\nthey are still using, many times, coal-based power--they have made\nmassive investments in renewable energy.\n  Today, China is the world's top supplier of long-duration energy\nstorage batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. Just last year,\nChina added 357 gigawatts of solar and wind generation. That is nearly\n100 more gigawatts of renewable energy than the United States added.\n  That is why Congress said: We have to catch up. In a very bipartisan\nway, with both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the\nInflation Reduction Act, we made a record set of investments to\nincentivize the build-out of a 21st century energy economy here in the\nUnited States so we can actually beat China in these fields.\n  Unfortunately, the President's ``Unleashing American Energy''\nExecutive order is actually attempting to rein in or potentially\nreverse much of the progress that has been made. His Executive order\nactually calls for the pause of any disbursement of funds lawfully\nappropriated and obligated by the Inflation Reduction Act or the\nInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. That unlawful withholding of\nfunds, which already has been rejected by the courts--I know my\ncolleague from Virginia has already said this--really jeopardizes a\nwhole lot of large-scale manufacturing projects around the country. I\ndon't know if Senator Kaine mentioned, but a number of those projects\nare in Virginia. We worked years with our Republican Governor to try to\nget these projects funded. They include things in solar, in wind that\nare extraordinarily important. They were funded because they would\nsupport this growth of American energy.\n  This is printed on both sides of the paper. I will cut to the chase.\n  The fact is, what President Trump did on that first day by putting\nout this Executive order which denies the fact that America is already\nthe energy leader in the world--we need to make additional investments\nin cutting-edge additional energies where China is making these\ninvestments--solar, wind, battery. I am a big advocate for small\nmodular nukes, both efficient and fusion, which I have talked about.\n  A lot of that comes from blending the infrastructure bill and the\nIRA. Why in the heck would we put a halt on all of that? Why in the\nheck would we cut back on cutting-edge energy investment in the United\nStates? Why would we cut back on American energy jobs?\n  I am all for the natural gas jobs coming out of the Presiding\nOfficer's State. I am all for ``all of the above.'' Why restrain us\nthough in areas where we have some catching up to do?\n  I think about fusion again. We are going to spend about $800\nmillion--hopefully--in some of this legislation. China is spending\nabout twice that amount. If we want to truly create the ample sources\nof energy that is needed in the United States, if we want those jobs to\nbe in America, if we want to think about a National security regime\nwhere we are the leader in the world in cutting-edge energy, then we\nhave to support Senator Kaine and Senator Heinrich's resolution to\noverturn this phony national energy emergency. If we don't and we give\nup on these projects that have been vetted--some for years--then we,\nfrankly, are going to allow our national security to fall behind China,\nbecause I can assure you--I get classified briefs on a regular basis--\nChina is not giving up in investment in all these new domains. China is\npedal to the metal on the ``all of the above'' energy strategy. That\nshould be our strategy, as well.\n  I urge all my colleagues to support Senator Kaine and Senator\nHeinrich's resolution. I look forward to that vote later today.\n  I yield the floor.\n  I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.\n  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.\n  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for\nthe quorum call be rescinded.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.\n\n      Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems\n\n  Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to discuss our\ncontinued efforts to reverse the Biden administration's regulatory\noverreach, specifically as it relates to energy. This includes our\nefforts to work with President Trump to unleash America's full energy\npotential and truly make our Nation energy dominant--not just energy\nsecure but energy dominant. Energy security is national security, and\nso it is vitally important for our country.\n  We have worked diligently in the Senate to swiftly confirm President\nTrump's Cabinet officials, and we continue to do that. We made it a\npriority to ensure that the President's Department heads are in place\nas we work to empower the United States to produce more energy from all\nof its abundant and affordable coal, oil, and gas reserves.\n  The key to this effort was confirming Doug Burgum of North Dakota--my\nState--as Interior Secretary, Chris Wright to be Energy Secretary, and\nLee Zeldin to serve as Administrator of the EPA. We look forward to\nworking with President Trump's newly established National Energy\nDominance Council, chaired by Secretary Burgum and vice-chaired by\nSecretary Wright.\n  We also continue legislative efforts to get our country back to\nenergy dominance.\n  Soon, the Senate will vote on my resolution to nullify the Democrats'\nnatural gas tax rule, using the Congressional Review Act. We will be\nvoting on that today. This new tax was mandated by the Democrats in\ntheir so-called Inflation Reduction Act. It should have been called the\nInflation Acceleration Act. Not only did it increase spending for their\nGreen New Deal, it also put taxes on things like natural gas. No\nwonder, under their watch, inflation went up to 9 percent. That hits\nlow-income, hard-working Americans the hardest of all. So we are going\nto change that.\n  This tax actually puts a fee on emissions from facilities that\nproduce natural gas. It starts at $900 a ton and goes up from there,\neventually up to $1,500 per ton. So essentially what you are looking at\nis putting a 5-percent-plus added tax on natural gas. Now, think about\nthat. Everybody uses natural gas to heat their homes or to cook their\nmeals and for many other purposes as well. So it is a tax on every\nconsumer, and it is regressive. It hits low-income individuals the\nhardest.\n  This, of course, has a disproportionate effect on small oil and gas\nproducers in States like mine, in North Dakota, Montana, and other\nStates. It hits small businesses the hardest. Of course, ultimately, it\nis paid by consumers.\n  It will impact the energy bills of consumers across the country who,\nas I said, are already struggling with high inflation because of the\nBiden administration.\n  Today, the United States is the world's largest oil and gas producer,\nand at the same time, we have led the world in emissions reduction.\n  Here is a stat I am going to talk about for a minute, and it is\nimportant to focus on this because at the very same time that the Biden\nadministration is putting additional taxes and fees on natural gas, we\nare reducing emissions from natural gas.\n  Since 1990, we have reduced emissions from methane by 20 percent.\nNow, that sounds pretty good, right--a 20-percent reduction in methane\nemissions since 1990. But think about this: In that same time, we have\ndoubled how much natural gas we produce. So we have doubled the amount\nof natural gas we produce and still reduced overall emissions by 20\npercent. Remarkable. Remarkable.\n  Biden's and Democrats' response to that is, well, gee whiz, let's\nraise taxes on everybody that uses natural gas.\n  Obviously, not only does that drive up prices, it curtails\nproduction. Instead, what we need to do is support\n\n[[Page S1372]]\n\nthe innovation and empower the technology development that has enabled\nus to reduce emissions while producing more natural gas. That is the\nanswer. That is the solution. That is exactly what President Trump and\nRepublicans have done and will continue to do, and that is an important\npart of, again, making our country truly energy dominant.\n  We are also working with the Trump administration to replace the\nBiden administration's rules that closed off access to vast areas of\ntaxpayer-owned energy resources. That includes both offshore and\nonshore.\n  For example, in my State, the Bureau of Land Management's--BLM--\npublic lands rule essentially enables environmental groups to lock away\nFederal coal, oil, and gas reserves under the argument that they are\nsomehow undertaking conservation. The reality is, in North Dakota, for\nexample, this Biden administration--what they call their Resource\nManagement Plan closes off leasing to 45 percent of the Federal oil and\ngas acreage in our State and nearly 99 percent of Federal coal.\n  But it doesn't just end there. When they close off those Federal\nlands from development, they also impact everybody else because Federal\nminerals are often colocated in our State and other States with\nprivately owned minerals under non-Federal surface acreage. Their\nResource Management Plan prevents other mineral holders and owners,\nprivate owners, from exercising their private property rights and\nlimits the ability to develop minerals that are owned by the State, by\nthe Tribes, and by private individuals.\n  That is why I am working with Senator Cramer, Congresswoman\nFedorchak, and Secretary Burgum to overturn the BLM's Resource\nManagement Plan and maximize access to North Dakota's energy resources.\nThat approach is not just important in my State, it is vital for\nenergy-producing States across the country.\n  This truly is about taking the handcuffs off our energy producers and\nempowering them to increase supply and help bring down prices for\nAmerican families and businesses.\n  There is an energy component in every product and service we consume,\nand when we make energy more plentiful and bring down that price, that\nhelps reduce inflation. When we bring down energy and make it more\nplentiful, that helps us grow our economy, create more jobs and\nopportunities, and, in fact, not only provide for national security\nthrough energy security but help our allies as well so that they are\nnot dependent on Russia or on OPEC or on Venezuela or anyone else--any\nof those bad actors--for their energy because they can get it from the\nUnited States.\n  All these things go with producing more energy. All those benefits,\nall those things go with truly making America energy dominant. That is\nabsolutely what President Trump and that is absolutely what Republicans\nintend to do.\n  With that, I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Banks). The Senator from Oklahoma.\n  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, President Biden liked to be able to say\nover and over again that we are producing record amounts of oil and\ngas. Some of my Democratic colleagues have even come to this floor in\nthe last couple of days and have said: We don't have an energy\nemergency.\n  Those two things together are kind of a message going out to the\nAmerican people: There is nothing to see here. Move along. Everything\nis fine on energy.\n  But if you talk to electricity-generation companies, regional\ndistribution networks, and ask them ``How are things going with\nelectricity generation? How are we doing with capacity?'' they will\ngive you a very different story.\n  The feeling is, when you walk into your own house and flick on the\nlights and the lights turn on, you are like: Yeah, the lights are fine;\nthere is no emergency. But if you talk to the electric company behind\nit and say ``Two years from now, what does it look like for capacity\nfor you?'' they will probably shake their head and say ``We have a\nproblem coming.''\n  Now, we can either deal with that problem 2 years from now when we\nare having brownouts and don't have enough electricity or we can deal\nwith it now. I would rather deal with it now so we don't have the\nchallenges ahead.\n  How do you do that? Continue to be energy dominant in, actually, the\nenergy that we are producing here in the United States and to be able\nto make sure that we are producing truly ``all of the above'' energy\nbut we are actually producing energy at a price Americans can afford\nand at the amount Americans need.\n  If we are going to be the world leader in AI, if we are going to be\nthe world leader in data centers, if we are going to be world leaders\nin innovation, you can't be that if you don't have the power behind it.\nYou can't be that if the price continues to go up, up, up for\ncontinuing subsidies.\n  Under the Biden administration, the price of gasoline went up 30\npercent--30 percent in 4 years. Under the Biden administration, in 4\nyears, the price of electricity nationwide went up 28 percent. Every\nAmerican feels it. When we pay our light bill, when we put gas in our\ncar, we feel it.\n  So now the question is: What do we do about it? How do we actually\nengage to be able to make this better?\n  Well, there are multiple things that we can do. We have already\nstarted some of those already. Quite frankly, President Trump, in his\nearliest days in office, stepped in and started the process of turning\naround some of the policies to increase more American energy so we can\nbegin to bring prices down and availability up, because sometimes it is\nnot just about price; it is making sure, 2 years from now, we are not\nrunning out and we are not having brownouts all across the entire\nNation in our electric grid.\n  So there are a couple things President Trump did right away. He\nactually changed all the cancellation of leases in Alaska to actually\ndrill in the area literally set aside, decades ago, for drilling. That\nis an area that should be a no-brainer, but the Biden administration\nstepped in and said: No, we are not going to allow anyone to drill in\nthe area set aside for oil exploration in Alaska. They canceled that.\n  President Trump canceled the mandate for electric vehicles, not\nbecause he hates electric vehicles. There happens to be a guy who hangs\naround him a lot that runs a company that sells electric vehicles. The\nproblem is not electric vehicles. The problem is the mandate to try to\nforce Americans to be able to shift to that when we don't see that in\nthe grid.\n  Quite frankly, the electric grid is not prepared, even, for Americans\nto be able to do all-electric vehicles, and frankly, most Americans\naren't either. If you talk to Oklahomans in rural areas and say, ``Are\nyou willing to have an electric vehicle when it is 35 miles to the next\ntown from where you are and to be able to take the risk?'' they are\nnot.\n  And even for a lot of our farmers and ranchers that will say, ``Well,\nthere is an electric pickup out there,'' if you ask the question, ``How\nfar does that electric pickup go if you are towing a trailer?'' the\nanswer you will get from the manufacturers is 80 miles. Do you know\nwhat? Our farmers and ranchers need to go a little farther than 80\nmiles with their vehicles.\n  So there are a lot of issues that are out there. To be able to take\nthe mandate away and say, ``Let people choose what vehicle they want to\nbe able to choose,'' we think is a better option, and, quite frankly,\nwith our grid not prepared for the strain on that long term, it is a\nwiser option for everybody in the process.\n  Decisive action has taken place on the issue of drilling in Federal\nwaters. President Biden, literally in the final hours of his\nadministration, put a ban on actually drilling on 625 million acres\noffshore. So 625 million acres that have oil and gas in them, President\nBiden just banned it.\n  Well, President Trump flipped that and said: No, we are going to\nallow that to be able to happen--quite frankly, as every other\nPresident has on that.\n  So these are basic things the President can do and has done, but what\ndo we, as Congress, need to be able to do?\n  We have engaged in several areas already. We have chipped away at\nwhat we call the methane fee that has been put on. Every single\nhomeowner that has a hot water tank that uses natural gas--or even if\ntheir electricity that is\n\n[[Page S1373]]\n\ncoming into their house is produced by natural gas or they cook with\nnatural gas--had a new fee added on to them at the end of the Biden\nadministration. We have now voted to be able to take that away and say:\nWe are not going to raise the prices of everybody because they happen\nto use natural gas to cook their food or to be able to heat their homes\nor heat their hot water or that they get electricity from as well.\n  We have also now voted on, quite frankly, a regulation that was done\nby the Biden administration at the very end of their time that was\nintentionally designed to be able to raise the price of offshore oil\ndrilling, where they intentionally placed a new fee on any company that\nis drilling offshore. That could be $1 million per well. The reason for\nthat is to try to block more development offshore on that.\n  What does that actually do? That doesn't decrease the need that we\nhave in the country. It increases the number of imports that are coming\ninto our country. So we are buying more from Saudi Arabia, more from\nVenezuela, rather than actually producing from our own jobs and our own\nlocations.\n  I don't have a problem with ``all of the above'' energy. In fact, I\nhave had this conversation with multiple people in this body. I am\nwilling to put the Oklahoma portfolio for energy against any State that\nis here, as far as our use of renewables versus fossil fuels. Forty-\nfive percent of the electricity produced in my State today is done with\nwind. We do wind, solar. We do hydro. We do oil, gas, coal. But we are\nworking to be able to make sure that we can actually produce\nelectricity that is needed for manufacturing and for our homes. That\nshouldn't be a difficult issue for us. That should be what it is\nactually all about.\n  Quite frankly, the frustration that we have had is this has been a\nchallenge for energy companies just to produce energy in the last 4\nyears. This is something that should be normal. America needs energy.\nEvery single American needs energy. Every person sitting in this room\nor watching this right now is using energy. We need access to that. So\nlet's find the best ways to be able to do it.\n  A couple of things that we are working on right now: One is that I\nhave a bill dealing with what we are talking about, with the tax\ntreatments that we are all debating right now, as well, on this floor,\ncalled Promoting Domestic Energy Production Act. That act is very\nstraightforward. It treats oil and gas companies the exact same way for\ntaxation as every other manufacturer is treated.\n  Now, a lot of Americans may say: Well, they are not treated the same\nnow? No. When Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act--which was\nbizarrely named because, actually, inflation spiked after that, with\nall they put into it. When the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, it\ncreated a new tax on oil and gas companies, specifically designed to be\nable to reduce new wells coming into America and increase the price of\noil and gas. That was the design of it because their goal was, if they\ncould make it so expensive to get gasoline, then more people would\nactually run to an electric vehicle, and they would buy an electric\nvehicle.\n  Well, guess what is happening. The more expensive gasoline is\ndefinitely happening, but more and more people aren't running to an\nelectric vehicle. They want to be able to choose. And that is a pretty\nfair option for them for that. So the bill that I have actually moves\nus back to treating oil and gas companies the exact same way as every\nother manufacturer is treated in our tax policy.\n  There is another bill that is not just an oil and gas bill. It is\ncalled the ALIGN Act. This handles what we call bonus depreciation.\nWhen a company actually buys a big piece of capital equipment, they are\ngoing to pay their tax that year on it, but they have to decide, for\nthat big piece of equipment, how many years it takes to be able to\ndepreciate the value of that. The ALIGN Act just says: In the year that\nyou bought it, you can also depreciate it, and you can take it off your\ntaxes.\n  Now, this doesn't change the amount of income coming into the Federal\nTreasury one bit. You are either going to have it over several years or\nyou are going to have it over one year. It doesn't change the amount at\nall, but it does make a huge difference to that business, in the year\nthey do a big capital investment, that they also get to write that off\non that same year.\n  Well, I think it is just good policy to be able to say: Let's\nincentivize every manufacturer to be able to do additional\nmanufacturing. Our economy needs it right now because, when they do\nmore manufacturing, that is more jobs in the country. And for energy,\nthat means more pipelines, more capabilities to be able to move energy\nat a cheaper rate. Those are commonsense things that don't hurt our\ndeficit as a nation but actually benefit our economy and benefit jobs.\n  Energy policy should be just commonsense conversation. It shouldn't\nbe political. It should be: What do Americans need? And we should look\nbeyond just today that the lights are on. We should at least look 2\nyears in the future to say what is about to happen in the country with\nour electric grid, anticipate the problems that are coming, and make\nchanges in policy here to make sure we don't have an emergency there.\n  So let's declare the American energy emergency. Let's fix it before\nwe have the challenges that are coming in just a few short months.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.\n  (The remarks of Mrs. Fischer pertaining to the introduction of S. 750\nare printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills\nand Joint Resolutions.'')\n  Mrs. FISCHER. I yield the floor.\n  I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.\n  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.\n  Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order\nfor the quorum call be rescinded.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.\n  Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed\nto address the Senate while seated when necessary.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.\n  Mr. JUSTICE. Mr. President, well, to this great Senate body and to\nall of you, I will speak from my heart. I won't have hardly any notes,\nbut I will speak from my heart about something that I think is\nabsolutely key to Emerald City, and that is all about energy.\n  Absolutely, I am an energy guy. I am from an energy State. In my\nbackyard, two-thirds of the population of this entire country is within\na rocks' throw of West Virginia. If we don't watch out, we are going to\nawaken to a situation, as far as energy in this country, that is\nreally, really, really bad. I believe this with all my soul.\n  Secretary Burgum is a really good man, and I always called him ``the\npick of the litter.'' I think President Trump's nominees are absolutely\ngreat, but with all that being said, I think about Doug Burgum--our\nSecretary of the Interior--a guy that is supersmart, really, really\nexperienced, compassionate, and has an unbelievable knowledge.\n  Now, with all that being said, if we could just go back to just this,\nwe could think about Chris Wright. Chris Wright gets it. He knows what\nwe need to do, and if you just step one step further, I would just say\njust this: President Donald Trump understands it. He knows exactly just\nthis, and this is all there is to it: Energy is everything. It is\neverything right now.\n  It solves the inflation bubble. It insulates us from the standpoint\nof wars all over the place. Why in the world do we in America need to\nblow our own legs off and turn China loose, India loose, whomever it\nmay be? That is what we are doing.\n  I am an absolute believer--and you have seen it in West Virginia, if\nyou are paying attention. I am an absolute believer to embrace all the\nenergy forms. We did 100 percent.\n  But if you believe today that we can do without our fossil fuels--our\ngreat fossil fuels--and absolutely if you think we can do without them\ntoday, I say you are living in a cave. You are absolutely living in\nfantasyland.\n  Absolutely, if you don't believe that today--a year and a half from\ntoday--that we are going to have a crisis in this country, off the\nchart, as far as electricity, you need to wake up because that is what\nis coming.\n\n[[Page S1374]]\n\n  Now, let me go one step further, and let me just say just this: Let's\njust say we awaken to an opportunity of AI, data centers, whatever it\nmay be, industry, manufacturing, whatever it may be. Do we want to say:\nNope. We can't do that. We can't do that because we are going to be in\na situation with our grid and with our energy production in a year and\na half from today. I promise you, a year and a half from today, we are\ngoing to be in a situation that we are going to have to decide: Are we\ngoing to have opportunity and jobs and manufacturing and AI and data\ncenters--are we going to have that--or are we going to choose with our\nelectricity amounts that we have--we are either going to be able to\nsupport industry or we are going to have to support homes.\n  For God's sake of living, we don't want to go and get cold. We don't\nwant to be hot in the summer. We don't need a choice between industry\nand our homes. What we need to be doing is exactly what I am saying. We\nhave got to realize that energy is the key to everything here. That is\nall there is to it.\n  You know, it does solve all the things that I have already said,\nwhether it be inflation or the war situation or our national security\nand on and on and on, but there is something else that it does. And it\njust goes just simply just this: We have a $37 trillion--none of us has\nany comprehension what a trillion dollars really is. None of us has any\ncomprehension--can possibly imagine what a trillion dollars is.\n  We have got a $37 trillion deficit. How are we going to get out of\nit? Please tell me. Please tell me how are we going to get out of it?\nFirst of all, what we should do is mind the store. That is what we have\ngot to do. Mind the store. That is the first thing you have to do.\n  That means cut as much waste as we possibly can. But after we do all\nof that, I will bet you this in every way. See, I am a business guy. I\nam not a politician. You can tell by the way I talk. For crying out\nloud, I am a business guy. With all that being said, I have never\nseen--never have I seen a situation to where you can cut your way out\nof a problem.\n  We will absolutely have to mind the store. President Trump is dead on\npoint. The DOGE is absolutely real, and we can absolutely make a real\ndent, but it won't be a dent nearly big enough. At the end of the day,\nthe only way you can truly get your way out of a mess--mind the store,\nand it grows. That is what we have got to do. You have got to grow\nrevenue.\n\n  Say what you want, but at the end of the day, you have got to grow\nrevenue. How are you going to grow revenue in America? For God's sake\nof living, the last thing on the planet that anybody would ever want to\ndo is raise taxes. That would be the worst thing we could possibly do.\nThat would kill us in every way imaginable.\n  We need to be supportive of President Trump's tax cuts. We absolutely\nneed to grow revenue one way. This is the only way to do it in West\nVirginia. You won't hear me all the time just standing up on a soapbox\ngoing on and on, but really this is a West Virginia guy that is telling\nAmerica and telling the world just this: We sit on so much energy it is\noff the chart. Why can't we be Saudi Arabia? I mean, for crying out\nloud, it absolutely is the answer, period. If you want to grow revenue\nin this country, absolutely it will start with energy, and it will end\nwith energy. That is all there is to it.\n  Think about this for just 1 second: Every single country in the\nworld--the gigantic countries or the real small countries--every\ncountry in the world today, the people will live longer and the people\nwill be healthier if they have more energy--guaranteed. Every single\ncountry in the world, the more energy they have, the longer their\npeople live, and the healthier they are.\n  Absolutely just go back and think just one more thing: Civilization\nonly progressed--only progressed with abundant, cheap energy, and now\nit is abundant, cheap, clean energy. America produces the cleanest\nenergy on the planet. Our coals are so clean it is unbelievable\ncompared to China's coals or other countries.\n  Absolutely our natural gas is so good, it is off the chart. Embrace\nall the alternatives. All the wind, all the solar, embrace them all,\nbut for gosh sake of living, you cannot--you cannot--forget the very\nthing that God above gave us in our fossil fuels.\n  So with all that being said--I didn't even look at the notes--but I\nwould just say to you just this: We have a real opportunity in America\ntoday, a real opportunity to move forward in a way that absolutely can\nsolve a lot of the riddle. The riddle is tough.\n  The riddle is tough, and absolutely when you step back from it and\nyou think about, Well, what are we going to do? Here is a guy that has\ncome to you not as a politician. I came to you not as a 40-year-old,\nyou know, aspiring to someday being the chairman of some committee. I\ncame to you with white hair as a 73-year-old because of one reason and\none reason alone: I meet up with being a patriot. I am the real deal. I\nchallenge the media all the time: Tell me something that, knowingly, I\nhave told you is not true. They can't do it because I am going to tell\nthe truth.\n  My parents taught me that. It is not OK to just tell anything and\nsay: Oh, it is just politics in my world. It is not. I am telling you\nfrom my heart as a business guy and absolutely as a West Virginian but\nfirst and foremost as an American: I love you with everything in me. I\nlove this country with every single thing in me. I want nothing but\ngoodness.\n  I don't want one thing for me--nothing. I don't want the next hot\ntip. I don't need the next perk. I don't need the next invite. I don't\nwant a thing for me. I am telling you, energy is our ticket. It is\neverything. It always has been everything.\n  Now, we have got to do something about it. America, you have got to\nlisten to me on this one. We have got to do something about it, and we\nhave got to do something about it right now. I mean, there is a bad day\ncoming, and it is coming right at us like a freight train. Let's do\nsomething about it, America. God bless each and every one of you. Thank\nyou so much for having me.\n  Mr. President, I will follow these guidelines correctly and make sure\nI do.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.\n\n                              S.J. Res. 10\n\n  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, the American people are being told once again\nnot to trust their own eyes. Democrats are telling them not to worry\nabout their soaring electricity bills, telling them to ignore rolling\nblackouts. Republicans are just fearmongering, they say. But, of\ncourse, the reality is that Americans have seen the power shortages.\nThey have paid the higher bills. They have felt the weight of the past\n4 years of the failed policies of the Biden administration, and we\ncannot ignore the resulting crisis anymore.\n  The power grid is buckling, energy demand is exploding, and the very\npeople who created this mess are now telling us, quite audaciously,\nthat there is no emergency. Why? Well, they claim that the United\nStates is producing more energy than we have in American history, but\nwhat they conveniently omit is that we are consuming more energy than\nat any time in American history, and we are expected to need much, much\nmore within just the next few years--much more than we are producing,\nmuch more than we ever have produced.\n  So it is not enough to just look at how much we are producing\nrelative to what we have produced in the past when you don't take into\naccount the demand, what we need, and what we need is going way, way\nup.\n  Now, according to Goldman Sachs, artificial intelligence alone--just\nartificial intelligence, nothing else; not population growth, not any\nother uses, household or industrial, of energy--just artificial\nintelligence alone is likely to drive a 160-percent increase in data\ncenter power demand by 2030. The largest data centers can consume more\npower than 700,000 households. That is equivalent to the energy use of\na city of 1.8 million people.\n  But there is no emergency, according to them. According to the\nsponsors of this resolution, this is just a handout. It is a handout to\nBig Oil, as they characterize it.\n  Now, good luck with that. Try telling that to the American families\nand businesses that struggled during the January 2025 polar vortex when\nthe U.S. power grid was pushed to its absolute limits. Electricity\ndemand hit historic\n\n[[Page S1375]]\n\nhighs, forcing grid operators to rely heavily on coal and natural gas--\nthe very sources of power that Democrats want to eliminate and have\nbeen working aggressively, with some effectiveness, to do precisely\nthat: to eliminate--just to keep the lights on.\n  It is not Big Oil that will suffer in the winters if we fail to keep\nthe power on.\n  Across multiple power market regions, electricity demand during that\nevent set new single-day records, as heating demand across sectors\nspiked. In response, grid operators had to rely heavily on dispatchable\ngeneration--primarily coal and natural gas--to ensure system\nreliability and stabilize supply during the extreme event.\n  Now, during that time, coal-fired powerplants dramatically increased\ntheir electric power output--that is, those coal-fired powerplants that\nhave not yet been torn down at the demand of Democratic-backed\npolicies. In many regions, coal capacity factors soared above 80\npercent, far exceeding typical winter levels.\n  On the other hand, wind and solar were challenged by unfavorable\nweather conditions. On peak days, wind and solar generated only 3\npercent and 0.2 percent of the incremental electricity needed to meet\ndemand.\n  But what exactly are Democrats worried about? What is their concern\namidst that very emergency? If that is not an emergency, I don't know\nwhat is. What is it they are worried about? Not grid failures. Not\nsurging energy costs. Not the reliability of our power supply. No. No.\nThey are concerned that President Trump is making things worse by\ncanceling the wind and solar projects that failed to generate enough\npower to meet demand at those peak moments when it was so badly needed.\n  They are using the same old playbook that they always have: Do\nanything to prevent President Trump from getting a win regardless of\nwhether his policies might actually bring relief to the American\npeople, which, of course, they would.\n  I have spent my career fighting against unchecked Executive power. I\nauthored the ARTICLE ONE Act to curb the abuse of Presidential\nemergency declarations, requiring congressional approval within 30\ndays. But let me be clear. This is not an abuse of those powers--not by\na mile; not at all; not in any way, shape, or form. It is a real\nemergency, and if President Trump's declaration were put to a vote\ntoday, this Chamber would affirm it.\n  Congress has had countless chances to fix this problem and failed\nevery time. Republicans have fought for years to reform our outdated\npermitting laws, only to be met with Democratic resistance at every\nturn. NEPA, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act--Democrats\ntreat these laws as if they were sacred texts, untouchable even when\nthey are clearly broken; a sacred text that can't be not just repealed\nbut even amended meaningfully to avert the disaster that they have\ncreated--especially created in the hands of the previous\nadministration.\n\n  Now, at this moment, we hear that they are ready to play ball. Now\nand only now do they say: Oh, yeah, we need to deal with this. Now, if\nthat is true, great, but let's see. If Democrats are serious about\nfixing it, now is the time to prove it. Until Congress acts, how can\nanyone really blame the President for stepping in to address this\nemergency? Which it is, which it has become, which it undeniably is. In\nsome cases, an emergency can be created by the government itself or at\nleast severely exacerbated, and that is the case here.\n  His Executive order tells Agencies to do exactly what Congress has\nneglected to do for years, exactly what Congress has been unable to\ndo--in large part because Democrats have resisted that, getting back to\nthe sacred text theory of these same laws that have become part of the\nproblem.\n  However, rather than working with President Trump and Republicans in\na productive way to try to make energy more accessible for Americans\nand more reliable and, of course, remain affordable, Senate Democrats\nare forcing a vote on a resolution to terminate President Trump's\ndeclaration and reinstate the restrictive energy policies from the\nBiden administration's Green New Deal.\n  Look at where those policies have left us, where they have put us,\nwhere we are, and where we are headed. Energy prices increased by 30.54\npercent, gasoline prices increased by 30.5 percent, electricity prices\nincreased by 28.55 percent, and natural gas prices increased by 33.3\npercent.\n  Meanwhile, Democrats' message to American families is clear: Pay\nmore, expect less.\n  That is the sort of gospel of scarcity, the idea that we have to live\noff of scarcity because that is what they demand because government\nwants it that way for reasons that only they can fully articulate but\nthat the American people do not find persuasive.\n  This is a problem. The United States is, in fact, in an energy\nemergency--not because of a lack of resources but because the Biden\nadministration's unrelenting regulatory assault on domestic oil and gas\nproduction in blind adherence to the climate cartel has put us in this\nposition.\n  Now, President Biden's Executive orders--including orders he issued\non his very first day as President of the United States back in January\nof 2021--pausing all new oil and gas leasing on Federal lands, where\nnearly 25 percent of U.S. oil production occurs, significantly hindered\nU.S. energy independence.\n  Even after courts mandated the resumption of these leasing programs\nessential to our energy development, Secretary Haaland slow-walked the\nprocess, offering the fewest acres for lease since World War II and\nholding a record-low number of offshore lease sales.\n  The chilling effect of the Biden administration's anti-production\npolicies is as undeniable as it is indefensible as a matter of public\npolicy. Oil companies are withdrawing from investments in Federal lands\ndue to the uncertainty created by erratic leasing decisions and hostile\nregulatory policies.\n  Now, let's remember, of course, this is made more severe by virtue of\nthe fact that the U.S. Government is not just the largest landowner in\nthe United States, but it owns around 28 percent--between one-quarter\nand one-third of all land in the United States. We compound that by\ngiving enormous discretion to Federal land management Agencies, to the\nexecutive branch, and then you put in place an administration that\nwants to preach and live by the gospel of scarcity, and that is a\nrecipe for disaster.\n  Biden's EPA contributed meaningfully to the problem as well. The\nBiden EPA introduced methane fees starting at $900 per metric ton in\n2025 and increasing to $1,500 over just a fairly short period of time.\nThat imposes significant financial burdens on producers, particularly\nsmall operators.\n  Now, lest anyone led by the Democratic talking points might be\ntempted to look at this and say ``Oh, but they are businesses. They can\nafford it. Suck it up. Just deal with it,'' that is not really who pays\nfor this, no. These things get passed on. The wealthy folks--at least\nthe wealthy folks who own these businesses--they are not the ones\nhardest hit by this. Those hardest hit are American families,\nparticularly in low- and middle-income brackets, those who, like so\nmany Americans, live paycheck to paycheck. It is those people whose way\nof life, whose livelihood, whose ability to afford life is so\ndramatically affected by these regulatory intrusions into the\nmarketplace. Those are the people who get hurt, and that really is a\nproblem.\n  Meanwhile, as our domestic production slows, our reliance on foreign\noil increases. In 2023, we imported 1.3 million barrels per day from\nOPEC, up nearly 50 percent from 2020 levels. Meanwhile, critical\nmineral dependencies on foreign nations--particularly China--threaten\neverything from titanium in pacemakers, to cobalt in batteries, to\ncopper in transmission lines and antimony in semiconductors. The\nabsence of just one of these minerals would devastate the sectors they\nserve. Yet the Biden administration, with its vast discretion as it\ninvented and reinvented Federal regulations and as it presided over\nthis Byzantine labyrinth of Federal regulations--laws put in place by\nunelected, unaccountable bureaucrats--can make those things much worse,\nand it did make those things much worse, and the American people, hard-\nworking Americans, are paying too high a price.\n  The American people are done. They are done with Joe Biden's failed\npolicies. Over 77 million Americans voted\n\n[[Page S1376]]\n\nfor President Trump just a few months ago, and a recent poll shows that\n60 percent of Americans support expanding American oil and gas\nproduction.\n  Senate Republicans will not let Democrats delay and obstruct any\nlonger. They have created and exacerbated an emergency. President Trump\nis addressing it, as the law allows him to do. We will ensure the\nPresident has the tools necessary to deliver the results that the\nAmerican people justifiably expect, demand, and truly do deserve,\nbecause the facts are undeniable. America is in an energy emergency\nbecause of the Federal Government and specifically because of the\nprevious administration's failed policies.\n  Instead of embracing abundant, affordable, and reliable energy,\nDemocrats--again preaching and living by the gospel of scarcity to\nwhich they are so closely wedded--are doubling down on a radical agenda\nto make everything, from gasoline to electricity, more expensive for\nworking families.\n  Remember, as the price of those energy inputs goes up, so, too, does\nthe price of everything else because it becomes more expensive to make,\nto process, to buy, to sell, to transport all of those same things.\n  Instead of learning from those failures, Senate Democrats are trying\nto block President Trump from taking action to fix it. What? Are they\ntoo afraid that their own policies will be exposed as the source of a\nsignificant amount of the problem? You will have to ask them about\nthat. But one could certainly make that argument, and it certainly\nappears to many that this is the case.\n  They are standing in the way of relief for American families, hoping\nthat if they delay long enough, the American people will simply accept\nhigh costs as the new normal. Only in Washington could you light the\nhouse on fire and then act shocked when someone else tries to put it\nout. Make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here.\n  We refuse to let that happen. We applaud President Trump for taking\naction to address an emergency created by our own government--presided\nover, directed, embraced, and now defended by the Democratic Party.\n  I urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.\n  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I join my colleague from Utah, the\nchairman of the Energy Committee, in speaking today in clear opposition\nto S.J. Res. 10, which would terminate the energy emergency that has\nbeen declared by President Trump.\n  I think my colleagues here on both sides of the aisle know that I am\nnot afraid to suggest when I think that the President may be heading in\nthe wrong direction. But, folks, on this one, he absolutely, positively\nclearly hit the mark, and I think that the chairman of the Energy\nCommittee has outlined in pretty good detail how that has come about.\n  We know that our country is blessed with extraordinary--\nextraordinary--assets. We have the potential to become the world's\nleading resource superpower. But in order to do that, we have to be\nable to produce more energy domestically, and that means we have to be\nable to extract more minerals. We have to be able to build more\ntransmission lines. We need to be able to overhaul what is clearly a\nbroken Federal permitting process. And we can do this. We can do this\nin a way that is cheaper, that is more reliable, more clean, really,\nthan any other nation in the world. But we have got to kind of dig out\nnow from where we have been over these past 4 years, where we saw\nsetback after setback for resource-producing States like mine, the\nState of Alaska.\n  Let me give you a little detail in terms of what we are facing in the\nState of Alaska--a State that, again, is known for its resource wealth.\nBut right now, in the south central part of the State, we are on the\nverge of importing LNG to meet the needs of some 75 percent of our\npopulation during the colder winter months.\n  I will just repeat that. Alaska, the place where everybody knows we\nhave got extraordinary oil resources--we have extraordinary natural gas\npotential, not only in the North Slope but down in Cook Inlet. Well,\nCook Inlet reserves are on the decline, and we are actually talking\nabout importing LNG from Canada. That ought to just be considered a\nnonstarter for anyone who knows and understands the extraordinary\npotential for resource development that we have in our State with the\nwealth that we have.\n  Right now, in some of our remote communities across the State,\nresidents are truly in what I would describe as an energy emergency.\nThey might not use that term anymore because they have just gotten so\nused to the fact that they are paying so much to keep their lights on\nand to keep warm. We have residents in many communities that are\nspending up to one-half of their incomes on energy just, again, to keep\nthe lights on and to keep warm.\n  Think about what that means when you are spending half of what you\nmake for just the basic necessities. It means that you have less to\nfeed your family, to educate your kids. We have got communities where\npower costs 10 times the national average, where gasoline can easily\nexceed $10 a gallon, and that includes diesel as well.\n  And those costs, of course, impact everything--everything--because\nyou have got to move your food, your goods, usually by airplane,\nsometimes over the water, sometimes you are able to drive it. But when\nyou are paying this much for diesel, for gasoline, for avgas, it\nimpacts everything. So it is not unusual to go into a village store,\nand if you can find a gallon of milk, see that it costs 18 bucks a\ngallon.\n  I do my comparison shopping by checking the prices of a box of Tide.\nPeople need to be able to wash their clothing just for sanitary\npurposes. Almost in every village that I am going to, you are looking\nat prices over $50 a box--$50 for a box of Tide laundry detergent--and\nit is not because Tide is any more expensive than anything else. It is\njust the reality of what we are paying here. So I think we have got an\nenergy emergency when it comes to affordability.\n  Right now, in our State, we have an oil pipeline that is one-quarter\nfilled. We have this pipeline that has been pumping oil safely from the\nNorth Slope to delivery down in Valdez, going to other parts of the\ncountry for refining. That oil pipeline was completed in 1974 and has\nbeen producing for America ever since. But right now, it is about one-\nquarter full.\n\n  That pipeline starts in, again, one of the most geologically\nprospective regions on the Earth. But what is happening is you have\nFederal Government control that surrounds most of the lands there, and\nit has led to decreased opportunities to expand production up there and\na pipeline that, again, is about one-quarter full.\n  I mentioned the benefits of oil here and talked about natural gas,\nbut we also have known deposits of about 50 critical minerals, the\nbuilding blocks of our modern society and our national security. We\nhave just about everything that our Nation needs to break its deep\ndependence on China, to be able to rebuild our supply chains. But if\nyou can't access it, you can't produce it, and we can't benefit from\nit.\n  When we try to build a road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler\nMining District--this is explicitly provided by a 1980 Federal law--we\ndid this as part of a grand compromise. The road corridor was in\nexchange for the creation of a massive national park and preserve. But\nwe can get that project approved in one administration, only to have\nthe next one come in, reopen it, ignore the law, and then make a\npolitical decision to reject it.\n  And then, here in Congress, we run into a partisan wall with some\nless interested in the rule of law than the whims of the very same\nenvironmental groups that pushed this resolution.\n  And then, meanwhile, what is happening when we are not able to\nproduce in our own home States, China is cutting us off from its\nmineral exports, including the gallium and the germanium that we could\nproduce from the Ambler District, if only the Federal Government would\nuphold its promise to allow Alaskans to responsibly access it.\n  So, yes, when I look at my home State, when I look at Alaska, I do\nsee an energy emergency--I see several, actually--and I see even more\nreasons to be concerned nationally.\n  As the chairman of the Energy Committee just noted, electricity\ndemand is growing, and yet we can't permit new powerplants or build\ntransmission\n\n[[Page S1377]]\n\nlines. We can't build pipelines in the Northeast or almost anything,\nparticularly mines, on Federal lands in the West.\n  And, you know, I guess I am listening to some of the arguments that\nare being presented here, and maybe I would feel differently if my home\nState was producing more than 2 million barrels of oil per day, as some\nare. But we are not, and it is not because we can't. It is because we\nhave been denied the opportunity to do so. And that is why I am very\nthankful for President Trump and the administration for the focus that\nthey have given to the State of Alaska with a specific Executive order\nto allow us to unleash Alaska's energy and resource potential.\n  I have shared with the Secretary of the Interior, as well as the\nSecretary of Energy, that we need to stop treating energy like it is\nsome kind of an evil or a bad thing. We need to recognize that it is\ngood. When I was chairman of the Energy Committee, we had a little\nbumper sticker, and I summed up my whole policy with ``Energy is\ngood.''\n  I haven't deviated from that policy. Energy makes us stronger, makes\nus less vulnerable, and it is an asset, not a liability, like we have\nseen it treated as such. We need to be unleashing our resources,\nincluding--including--all of our renewables, because that is all part\nof the energy basket as well. So it is not an either-or in my view. It\nis all of the above. And that is good for our economy. It is good for\nour security. It is good for our geopolitical power.\n  America's resource production is good for the global environment\nbecause, when we are producing our resources--where we stop paying\ncountries that have little to no environmental standards, no interest\nin reducing their emissions, and that often rely on child or slave\nlabor and that, frankly, don't even like us--so why not seize the\nopportunities that we have here, benefit our own people, our own\neconomies, and, again, benefit the global environment as well.\n  So if an energy emergency helps us figure this all out, then I am\ngood with that. And if it helps us take the Federal sanctions that we\nhave seen placed on Alaska and return my State to the heart of our\nnational strategy for resource production, then that is also good. I\nthink we will all be better off.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.\n  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today in support of\nS. J. Res. 10, which would terminate the misguided national energy\nemergency that President Trump signed on his first day in office.\n  It has been 37 days since President Trump declared, for the first\ntime in this Nation's history, a national energy emergency. This is an\nattempt to throw red meat to the base of the Republican Party and to\nseem like Donald Trump is the oil and gas President.\n  But there is no evidence to support that. In fact, the evidence we\nhave points in exactly the opposite direction. This emergency was\ndeclared despite the fact that the United States is producing more oil\nthan any other country ever in this Nation's history. And we have been\ndoing that for the past 7 years.\n  The emergency was declared despite the fact that the United States is\nin the midst of a clean energy boom and a manufacturing renaissance. We\ngenerated 17 percent more electricity in 2023 than the high point of\nthe first Trump administration. Clean energy jobs are growing at twice\nthe rate of the economy overall. And this emergency was declared\ndespite the fact that, as the Wall Street Journal headline noted after\nthe election: ``Trump's Oil and Gas Donors Don't Really Want to `Drill,\nBaby, Drill.' ''\n  They are very happy to lock in demand for the long term. But increase\nsupply and potentially undercut profits? Not so much.\n  So we find ourselves with an emergency declaration in search of an\nemergency. But it is not without consequences. President Trump has\nassumed vast power for the executive branch through this emergency\ndesignation. He is encouraging the use of eminent domain that could\nliterally allow the government to take your land away. He is waiving\naway key protections for clean water. And he is suggesting that a\ntimeline of just 7 days is sufficient for public comment on projects\nthat could cause irreparable harm to historic and cultural resources.\n  President Trump campaigned on ``lowering the cost of everything'' and\nhe promised:\n\n       Your energy bill within 12 months, will be cut in half.\n\n  Voters responded to those promises, and Americans do want to see\nlower energy costs. I am all for that. I focused, as Governor, on how\nwe could address the high energy prices in New Hampshire. We permitted\ntwo gas pipelines through the State--both gas coming from Canada. And\nwe negotiated a deal with our largest utility company that lowered\nrates 16.5 percent.\n  I am all for lowering energy costs. We absolutely should be talking\nabout that. But let's take a step back here, and let's talk about what\nPresident Trump's energy policies actually are and how they affect the\nAmerican people. In the first 37 days, we have seen the Trump\nadministration cut off funding for solar, wind, and clean manufacturing\nprojects that are cheaper and faster to build than fossil fuel\ninfrastructure. We have seen him halt energy efficiency programs and we\nknow energy efficiency is the cheapest, fastest way to deal with our\nenergy needs.\n  He has prepared a 10-percent energy tax in the form of tariffs on\nheating oil, propane, gasoline, and other energy we import from Canada.\nAnd that hits New Hampshire really hard because of the energy sources\nwe get from Canada. I talked about the two gas pipelines that come down\nfrom Canada. And because we have so many households that burn No. 2\nfuel oil to heat our homes and because it is cold in New Hampshire at\nthis time of year, that hits us really hard.\n  He has fired more than 1,000 workers at the Department of Energy,\nincluding those who were keeping State energy programs and\nweatherization up and running to respond to emergencies and to help\nfolks like we have in New Hampshire stay warm this winter.\n  And tomorrow, what we expect is that Senate Republicans will roll\nback a commonsense fee on venting or flaring of methane rather than\ncapturing it for productive use. If that passes and the President signs\nit, it will cost the taxpayers $2.3 billion over the next 10 years,\neffectively lighting money on fire to save Big Oil a few bucks.\n  In New Hampshire, as in other States, President Trump's actions have\nsown chaos and uncertainty. They are raising costs for families, for\nfarmers, for small businesses, and for town budgets.\n  For example, the tariffs that are set to go into effect--and I\nunderstand the President has now decided he is going to wait until\nApril--but they could mean about $150 to $250 more for the average\nfamily in New Hampshire who are using heating oil just to keep warm\nthrough the winter. President Trump's efforts to cancel promised\nfunding for electric charging infrastructure in New Hampshire harms our\ntravel and tourism sector, particularly in northern New Hampshire where\nski areas and other outdoor recreation drive our local economies. A\nrecent study found that the State risks losing an estimated $1.4\nbillion in overall economic impact if we don't build up our charging\ninfrastructure.\n  One small business owner in Barrington, in the seacoast of New\nHampshire, told me that he has nearly $3 million in projects. Those\nprojects are on hold this year, including work for school districts\nwith the State and with other customers to install solar projects that\nprovide long-term taxpayer savings. They are on hold because of what\nPresident Trump has ordered.\n  Farms and local shops across rural areas of New Hampshire are nervous\nabout receiving promised reimbursements for energy-saving work through\nthe Rural Energy for America Program, the REAP program. At least one\nbusiness owner at Seacoast Power Equipment has been covering interest\nwith the bank until his grant--which he has a signed commitment for--is\nactually paid out. Of course, this is affecting his bottom line.\n  Then we have Super Secret Ice Cream in Bethlehem, NH, the northern\npart of our State--an award-winning small business that provides the\nbest ice cream you have ever eaten. They were gearing up to install\nsolar panels using $15,000 in Federal funds. Now that project is on\nhold. Many family-owned\n\n[[Page S1378]]\n\nbusinesses like Super Secret Ice Cream have very tight margins, and\nthis small investment of $15,000 would help Kristina and Dan grow their\nbusiness and lower the electric costs that they are paying to store\ntheir ice cream.\n\n  Then we have the town of Peterborough in the western part of New\nHampshire. They plan to use funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure\nLaw to enhance much-needed workforce development. But, of course, they\nhave had to wait far too long for Federal approvals.\n  And in rural towns like Berlin in the northern part of our State,\nresidents eagerly signed up for federally funded projects that will\ninsulate and add solar arrays to their manufactured homes. This is a\nreal solution to their high utility bills. But these projects are now\non hold because the contractors are uncertain that they are going to be\npaid.\n  I could go on, as I know my colleagues could, but since we have\npeople waiting, I want to close with a point of agreement. In his\nExecutive order, President Trump stated:\n\n       We need a reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of\n     energy to drive our Nation's manufacturing, transportation,\n     agriculture, and defense industries and to sustain the basics\n     of modern life and military preparedness.\n\n  That makes sense to me. I agree with that. But, unfortunately, that\nis about the only thing he said related to energy in the past 37 days\nthat does make sense. Lowering energy costs, creating good jobs, and\nincreasing America's economic competitiveness in the world--those ought\nto be things that we can all agree on. But if we give up our leadership\non clean energy now, the People's Republic of China, who President\nTrump claims is our greatest competitor--and I agree with him on that.\nI just don't understand how the Trump administration policies are\nallowing us to be competitive--but China is going to be more than happy\nto fill the void for its own economic advantage.\n  I think we should also agree Americans deserve clean air, clean\nwater, and a chance to have a say in what happens in their communities.\n  I want to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on these\ngoals. That work starts by ending this disastrous, misguided emergency\ndeclaration and by stopping the chaos. I hope my colleagues will join\nme in voting to restore Congress's appropriate role in setting energy\npolicies that benefit the American people by supporting this\nresolution.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.\n  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am here to join my colleagues in\nobjecting to President Trump's fake energy emergency, which is part of\nthe Trump continuing strategy to hurt families and help billionaires--\nin this case, the fossil fuel billionaires who put at least $100\nmillion into getting him elected, probably a good deal more because so\nmuch of the money was dark money. We don't know. But there is every\nreason to believe it was multiple hundreds of millions of dollars spent\nto get him elected and it is payback time for the big donors.\n  Tough bounce to the families whose bills are going to go up as a\nresult.\n  How are families bills going to go up? For starters, renewables are\nless expensive than fossil fuel. When you add them to the mix, the grid\nruns on a cue, and it takes the cheapest sources and puts them in the\nline. And as you demand more and more electricity, you finally get to\nthe more expensive energy sources. And inexpensive renewables coming in\ndrives out the expensive fossil fuel from the top, and it lowers energy\ncosts overall.\n  So when you stop doing that, the most expensive plants have to come\nback online, and that will raise utility bills but, most importantly to\nTrump, profits for fossil fuel billionaires.\n  We make ourselves, with this, more vulnerable to the OPEC fossil fuel\ncartel, the oil and gas cartel. They raise prices by manipulating\ninternational markets. The American oil and gas companies follow up.\nEven if they don't need to make that much money, they will follow the\nOPEC prices. As a result, they have declared the biggest profits in the\nhistory of humankind at the expense of American families both at the\nfuel pump and at home on their electric bills. It doesn't matter to\nthis administration. It is a win for the fossil fuel billionaires who\npaid good money to get this administration in, and families will be\nhurt to help the fossil fuel billionaires.\n  Another one is LNG export. What happens in the natural gas market\nwhen you take our natural gas, liquefy it, and send it offshore\nsomeplace else? It doesn't go into the pipelines here in America. It\npinches the supply available to Americans, which raises prices for\nAmericans, unless you want to repeal the economic laws of supply and\ndemand.\n  So over and over and over again, these pro-fossil fuel, mega donor\npolicies hurt American families, raise families' electric utility\nbills, and provide huge benefits back to the big donors who spent good\nmoney to get him into office.\n  Who gets hit the most when you attack solar and attack wind power?\n  Well, here are the top solar States by installed capacity. Start with\nCalifornia. Obviously, it is the fifth biggest economy in the world,\nbut the next four are Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona.\nThere are a lot of red voters in those States who are going to pay the\nprice for this bad policy. Look over to wind. The top State is Texas,\nthe next is Iowa, the next is Oklahoma, and the next is Kansas. Again,\nred States will pay the price for this donor-oriented policy.\n  The Trump administration doesn't even concede that solar and wind\npower are energy. When they use the word ``energy,'' they only mean\nfossil and nuclear. They have literally defined solar and wind out of\nthe energy mix by a process of vocabulary magic.\n  So we are headed for a bad place, and consumers are going to pay--all\nto make big fossil fuel barons even richer than they are.\n  The shame here is that there actually is an emergency out there.\nThere actually is an energy emergency out there, and the energy\nemergency is happening because fossil fuel emissions are changing the\nweather and the natural systems of the Earth so that the risk of\nweather disasters, whether it is wildfire or flooding, is getting so\nbad that property insurers can't keep up. So we are having a crisis in\nproperty insurance markets that is fully developed in Florida, and\nCalifornia is not far behind.\n  What the chief economist for our mortgage giant, Freddie Mac, has\nwarned of is that the property insurance crisis morphs into a mortgage\ncrisis because if you can't get property insurance on a property, guess\nwhat else you can't get on a property--you can't get a mortgage on it.\nAnd the mortgage crisis devolves into a property values crash because\nif you can't find buyers because nobody can get a mortgage on that\nproperty, your property's value just collapsed. Then that morphs into a\nnationwide economic crash on the scale of 2008. That is what they said\njust about coastal property values. Now we have the wildfire risk\ncoming along side by side--the evil sibling.\n  So is there an emergency? Yes. It is coming on, and it is coming on\nsoon enough that the Fed Chair, in testimony just over a week ago here\nin the Senate, said: After a decade goes by, there will be regions of\nthe United States of America where you can't even get a mortgage any\nlonger.\n  What is that going to do to property values and people's homes? By\nthe way, if that is the case for 10 years out, markets are going to\nstart to move sooner. So this is a problem that is on us now. We have a\nreal emergency coming. It is going to clobber us economically.\n  Our friends on the Republican side don't want to listen to us because\nof all the fossil fuel money that goes into their party. The President\ndoesn't want to listen to it because he got paid so many hundreds of\nmillions of dollars in political funds to get himself elected. But\nnature's rules can't be repealed by man. This is coming on. We ought to\nbe prepared for it.\n  With that, I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.\n  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am pleased to follow my colleague\nand friend from Rhode Island and to join with the Senator from\nVirginia, Senator Kaine, in supporting S.J. Res. 10, which is a joint\nresolution to terminate President Trump's illegal Executive order\ndeclaring an energy emergency.\n\n[[Page S1379]]\n\n  It is not only nature's rule that is being violated, as Senator\nWhitehouse just said so eloquently; it is also this Congress's rule. In\neffect, the President is flouting and defying this Congress--this\nindependent, separate body of the U.S. Government--in the money that\nhas already been appropriated for projects that will help avoid an\nenergy emergency in the future and reduce the prices of energy for\nAmerican families.\n  To the families of America, let's just be very clear. President Trump\nis illegally withholding appropriated funding for for projects in your\ncommunities and your neighborhoods, not only projects to increase\nenergy efficiency but also to strengthen the electrical grid that\nbrings electricity into your home and projects to build out America's\nclean energy infrastructure that will avoid pollution in your\nneighborhoods.\n\n  This funding freeze sweeps a range of programs having nothing to do\nwith unleashing American energy, whatever President Trump thinks it\nis--we are talking about funding for clean drinking water projects that\nwill enable better drinking water for your homes; brownfield\nremediation so that businesses can be developed in places that now are\npolluted; heating assistance for low-income households during the end\nof this winter--causing confusion and consternation across the country.\n  But make no mistake, if this funding is withheld, the projects and\nthe needs and the challenges don't go away. There will still be a need\nto clean up those brownfields, to deliver through the electric grid, to\nmake energy efficiency real in communities and neighborhoods, but you\nwill pay. Your taxes will be increased at the State level and the local\nlevel, and those projects will become more expensive. So there is a\ndouble and triple whammy here. Increase the costs now and in the future\nfor projects that are absolutely essential to the health as well as the\nenergy efficiency of our country.\n  The Republicans say they are for an ``all of the above'' approach to\nenergy, but then they turn around and they attack renewables. They say\nthey are for cleaning up brownfields, but then they support this kind\nof Executive order that is illegal and also stymies or stops that\nbrownfield remediation.\n  Like all of the actions by Executive order President Trump has taken\nin his first month of office, it isn't actually solving the problem; it\nis exacerbating it. It is lining the pockets of his billionaire\nbuddies--in this case, oil and gas executives--at the expense of\neveryday Americans. If there is an energy emergency, it will be created\nby President Trump--it won't be solved by him--and congressional\nRepublicans will be complicit in it.\n  There is also an effect on jobs. In fact, thousands of jobs are\nthreatened by this Executive order. Repealing the Inflation Reduction\nAct by Executive edict threatens 400,000 new jobs that have been\nannounced since August of 2022. Connecticut alone has around 50,000\nworkers in the clean energy sector. All of those jobs are at risk. They\nare threatened by President Trump's attack on the industry.\n  To my colleagues across the aisle, make no mistake, this is going to\naffect your constituents as well. Studies have found that a majority of\nclean energy jobs created during the first full year after the\nInflation Reduction Act passed actually were in the South, in\nRepublican States. Jobs in clean energy are not in one State or just\nblue States; they are across the country. Eight out of ten\ncongressional districts that received the most funding under these laws\nwere represented by Republicans.\n  It shouldn't be a partisan issue. It is, as we say all the time, an\nAmerican issue. We stand ready to work with anyone who wants to lower\ncosts for consumers and support domestic energy production by building\non historic investments made by the Infrastructure Investment and JOBS\nAct and the Inflation Reduction Act, but President Trump's order in no\nway helps; it simply harms that effort.\n  I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this resolution.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.\n  Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, the United States is in an energy\nboom. Our Nation has never produced more electricity or oil and gas\nthan we are producing right now. This ``all of the above'' approach to\nenergy using everything--including solar, wind, and geothermal--is\nkeeping energy prices as low as possible for working families but at\nthe same time is recognizing that climate change is real and moving\ntoward a clean energy future.\n  Excluding coal, the United States produced more energy than any other\ncountry in the history of the world in 2023. It appears that some in\nthis administration are determined to undo that progress.\n  Despite American leadership in energy, the President signed an\nExecutive order on his first day declaring a national energy emergency.\nThat sounds dramatic, almost theatrical, because it is meant to be.\nLet's call this political theater for what it is--an attempt to\naccelerate oil and gas projects while at the same time holding back our\nrenewable energy.\n  Of course, there are things that we need to be doing to keep energy\ncleaner, prices lower, and to cement American energy independence.\n  For starters, we need to increase energy production. We need to meet\nour energy future by streamlining the permitting of our new energy\nprojects--of all of our energy projects--while at the same time being\nmindful of the environmental impacts and giving impacted communities a\npublic forum. We need to upgrade our grid. We need to increase clean,\ndomestic, critical mineral production. But that is not what this\nExecutive order will do. In fact, it won't do a single one of these\nthings.\n  They claim we are in an emergency, an energy emergency, but they\ncontinue to block Federal wind and energy permits. They claim we are in\nan emergency, an energy emergency, but then they ship oil and gas\noverseas. They claim we are in an energy emergency, and yet their\nactions would cede complete control of what eventually will be an\nenormous global market in renewable energy to China.\n  The administration has also fired thousands of government workers who\nplay vital roles in American energy--all in the name of government\nefficiency and giving tax cuts to the ultrawealthy.\n  Listen, I am all for making the government more efficient. I have\nworked on that most of my public life. If you want to seriously look at\nhow we spend money and where we can actually cut fraud, waste, and\nabuse, I am game. But hastily, almost randomly firing Department of\nEnergy employees or letting go 300 workers who maintain our nuclear\nsecurity and safety--I don't think that is the way to do it.\n  Our office has even heard from a private company that worried that\nthe Federal employee responsible for managing their permitting process\nis about to be fired, placing the entire success of their project at\nrisk. They help bring energy to our local communities. This will stop\nthem dead in their tracks and raise prices for households at the same\ntime.\n  America's energy economy is booming, in large part because of the\nbipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act--bills\nthat make historic investments in American-made energy.\n  These bills have created more than 400,000 good-paying jobs. Yet\nthere is an effort by some in the Congress--mostly Republicans; I\nshould say all Republicans--and the administration to slash and impede\nthe progress that we have made, even though an estimated 70 percent of\nthe benefits--the jobs, the investments, the increased energy--are\ngoing to red States.\n  Cutting funding from these critical pieces of legislation is going to\nhit our rural communities the hardest, where it could provide the\ngreatest benefit. It will shrink county government revenue; it will\nforce layoffs; and, ultimately, it will increase the cost of energy.\n  Clean energy isn't just some liberal boogeyman. It is not some\nnotion. In fact, most of the energy that is ready to go as we expand\nour capacity--it is ready to go--is clean and affordable.\n  Solar, wind, and storage, they make up 95 percent of the capacity of\nnew energy ready to connect to our grid. Wind generates 10 percent of\nour electricity now and will provide much more affordable renewable\nenergy if more permits were made available.\n  Withholding funds already appropriated by Congress through these laws\n\n[[Page S1380]]\n\ncould balloon energy bills by up to 12 percent for American families.\nThat is at least $240 a year for working families that they will have\nto come up with one way or another. When you are struggling to afford\neggs at the grocery store, trying to balance your checkbook at the end\nof the month, the last thing you need is an increase in your energy\nbill.\n  Some in Congress, some Republicans, have introduced their budget\nwhich strips critical services for Coloradoans while adding $4 trillion\nto our national debt, all primarily so they can give tax breaks, which\nmore than half go to the ultrawealthy who, at least many in Colorado,\ndon't even want them.\n  I put an amendment on the floor that would strip any provision from\ntheir budget that would raise energy costs for Americans. How can\npeople be opposed to that? Yet every Republican voted against it. I\nthink they are putting politics over people.\n  We are able to keep energy prices low for working families because we\nuse everything: oil, gas, geothermal, wind. So rather than limiting\nenergy sources, proclaiming a false emergency, or firing critical\ngovernment employees, let's meet the moment and usher in a new energy\nfuture that helps everyone, a future marked by a resilient energy grid\nbuilt by American innovation that delivers low-cost, reliable energy\nfor every Coloradan, for every American.\n  If this administration is looking for a bipartisan roadmap on this,\nwe have one. We should pass permitting reform that streamlines review\nfor all energy projects, not just oil and gas. We can build a modern\nelectric grid that will reduce energy prices for all.\n  Let's continue supporting emerging technologies like advanced\ngeothermal and nuclear so that we can remain dominant in the markets\nthat are emerging.\n  And let's stop picking winners and losers. The vast majority of new\nelectricity is coming from low-cost solar, wind, and energy storage.\nLet's follow the law and let the investments in energy from the past\nfew years go to the communities that need them.\n  Let's cut the nonsense. This isn't an energy emergency; it is an\nemergency opportunity. This administration's actions certainly would\ncause an emergency for many Coloradoans and American working families.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.\n  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking my\ncolleague from across the Potomac River, Senator Kaine of Virginia, and\nalso Senator Heinrich of New Mexico for bringing this resolution before\nthe U.S. Senate.\n  We are now witnessing in realtime two of the most corrupt bargains in\nAmerican history. One of those corrupt bargains is the one that\nPresident Trump made with Elon Musk.\n  Elon Musk spent $280 million to help elect Donald Trump President of\nthe United States--$280 million--and President Trump has handed the\nkeys of Federal Agencies over to Elon Musk. He even appeared at the\nCabinet meeting today with other members of the Cabinet that went\nthrough the advice-and-consent process of the U.S. Senate. Elon Musk\ndidn't do that, but he did spend $280 million to help elect President\nTrump.\n  And now the actions that Elon Musk is taking are designed to rig\ngovernment Agencies to do the bidding of people like Elon Musk and\nother billionaires. In fact, we have been reading more and more about\nthe billions of dollars of Federal contracts that Elon Musk has gotten\nand more to come. Just within the last 48 hours, we are talking about\nan FAA contract for Starlink.\n  This has nothing to do with government efficiency. If it did, you\nwould not start by firing all the inspectors general across the U.S.\nGovernment whose job it is to look out for waste, fraud, and abuse. In\nfact, what you would do when you get rid of the inspectors general is\nopen the door to waste, fraud, and abuse.\n  So we should be on full alert here in the U.S. Senate as to what is\nhappening.\n  As others have said, we are also watching them claim to make savings,\nwhich actually they have had to change their, sort of, tally board\nevery day because of misrepresentations. But they do want to clear the\nway to provide tax cuts to very, very wealthy people like Elon Musk at\nthe expense of everybody else in America. And, of course, the House\njust passed a budget resolution to set up that process last night.\n  So that is one corrupt bargain that is playing out right now, and\nthousands of patriotic Federal employees around the country who do the\npeople's work are being fired based on lies. I say ``lies'' because\nthey are claiming they are firing them based on performance, only to\nfind out that these Federal employees are coming forward with glowing\nperformance reports as part of their most recent assessments. So that\nwas a lie because that was the standard that had to be met, even if\nthey had to make it up.\n  All these cases are now finding their way through the courts. We have\nover 60 court proceedings. Many Federal judges have issued temporary\nrestraining orders to put a halt to this rampage of illegal activity.\n  The other corrupt bargain is the one that brings us to the Senate\nfloor today because it was in May of last year, during the campaign,\nthat Candidate Trump promised the Big Oil executives that he would\ndeliver their wish list if they spent a billion dollars to return him\nto the White House.\n  So much has happened since then, I think some people forget, but here\nis the Washington Post headline from May 9, 2024:\n\n       What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1\n     billion to his campaign.\n\n  The story describes how the CEOs there were stunned--stunned--when he\nwent on to say:\n\n       You are all wealthy enough . . . that you should raise $1\n     billion to return me to the White House. [And] he vowed to\n     immediately reverse dozens of President Biden's rules and\n     policies.\n\n  And as the article indicates, among the things he promised to scrap\nwere the efforts to develop more clean vehicles, more electric\nvehicles, and to develop more wind energy. So he promised to provide\nmore opportunities for the big oil companies while harming their\ncompetitors in the clean energy industry.\n  He promised he would do all of this on day one. He also made another\npromise as to what he would do on day one. He promised the American\npeople he was going to lower prices on day one. We all know that that\nis just not happening. Prices are going up. Grocery prices are going\nup. Rents are going up. Home prices are going up. The price of eggs is\nthrough the roof. So President Trump is not delivering on that day-one\npromise.\n  He is delivering on his promise to the Big Oil executives to issue\nthat order that has made it even easier for them to produce, when they\nare already producing close to maximum current levels.\n  In fact, as my colleagues have said, for the past 6 years in a row,\nthe United States has been producing more crude oil than any other\nnation at any other time ever, ever. In fact, the last administration\nactually approved more oil and gas leases during those 4 years than\nDonald Trump did during his first term in the White House.\n  And there is plenty of room to grow. Under existing leases, about\nhalf of U.S. oil and gas leases are currently not being used.\n  So here he issues an Executive order to allow even more to move\nforward, even when a lot of potential is still not being tapped, but\ndoing it in a way that will negatively impact the public health,\nsacrifice clean air and clean water.\n  That is only half the problem. That is half the problem because what\nPresident Trump is doing is not only giving a blank check to the big\noil companies, he is also sabotaging clean energy in the United States\nof America. They, of course, provide competition to the big oil\ncompanies.\n  So by throttling and sabotaging efforts when it comes to solar power\nor wind power or electric vehicles, you are actually producing less\noverall energy. You are actually giving the big oil companies a\ncompetitive advantage. That means prices go up, not down.\n  I can tell you that in my State of Maryland, people are feeling the\nimpacts of higher electricity prices. We need to generate more\nelectricity. We have got data centers coming onboard. AI consumes a lot\nof energy. So why in the world would President Trump be trying to\ncripple the clean energy industry?\n\n[[Page S1381]]\n\n  Well, that is what he told the Big Oil executives he would do: He is\ngoing to crack down on wind power.\n  I will tell you that solar and wind energy are among the cheapest\nforms of energy in the country. And at a time when American pocketbooks\nare tight, renewable energy will help keep energy bills down.\n  In fact, renewable energy is expected to save Americans $38 billion\non electricity bills by the year 2030 and produce more than 350,000\njobs in America. So why is President Trump trying to sabotage bringing\nthat additional energy onto the grid and to Americans?\n  In Maryland, we are planning investments in offshore wind that will\ncreate 2,600 local jobs and power over 718,000 homes. That is wind\npower energy. That is what Donald Trump is trying to sabotage.\n\n  So if you really want to create more energy and you want to reduce\nenergy prices, you wouldn't be doing what Donald Trump is doing when it\ncomes to putting the screws to clean energy production.\n  I do want to mention one other way in which this is really going to\nharm America's interests, and that is, it is going to open the door\neven wider to our adversaries who are competing in the space--\nprincipally China. We spent a lot of time trying to improve our supply\nchains, develop supply chains for minerals that we need to develop\nelectric vehicles, and by sabotaging this sector, we are opening the\ndoor to China just to run into this market and leave us behind.\n  That is not ``America First''; that is America in retreat, just as it\nis America in retreat for us to vote with Russia and North Korea at the\nU.N. General Assembly the other day, against the people of Ukraine and\nfreedom-loving people around the world.\n  So, Mr. President, I hope we will support this resolution. I hope we\nwill ensure that we can develop our clean energy sources that will\nproduce more energy supply for the American people and help lower\nprices.\n  I know, back in May of last year, Candidate Trump told the big CEOs\nthat not only was he going to help them develop more but he was going\nto help them by hurting their competitors in the renewable energy\nindustry. That is no way to conduct an energy policy for the United\nStates of America.\n  I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.\n  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it has been almost 6 weeks--maybe a couple\nof days beyond 6 weeks--of the new administration of Donald Trump and\nhis second term. It is a lot different than his first term. I was here\nfor that occasion as well.\n  What we have found is unique is a blizzard of Executive orders issued\nby President Trump from the beginning of his administration. Among\nthose Executive orders was his declaration of an energy emergency--\nenergy emergency. It turns out that claim is not based on fact. There\nis no energy emergency in America.\n  Under the Biden administration, we saw record deployment of wind,\nsolar, biofuels, batteries, oil, gas, and nuclear. In fact, the United\nStates is producing more power than ever. Last year, the United States\nof America produced more oil than any other nation in the history of\nthe world. Yet President Trump continues to insist that America is on\nthe verge of nationwide blackouts and that clean energy will raise\nprices. It is simply not true.\n  So what is the reason for the President to try to mislead the\nAmerican people? The short answer is that he wants to give handouts to\nhis billionaire buddies in the fossil fuel industry. Before Elon Musk\nshowed up with his multibillion-dollar fortune, it was reported that\nthen-Candidate Donald Trump invited fossil fuel executives to Mar-a-\nLago to ask for--hold on to your seats--a $1 billion campaign\ncontribution--1 billion bucks.\n  Now that he is in office, President Trump is doing everything he can\nto keep those billionaires happy. That means tax cuts for the\nultrawealthy--which is on its way, I am afraid--opening up Federal\nlands and waters for drilling, and, yes, declaring this phony energy\nemergency.\n  Why is he doing it? Declaring an emergency grants the President\nadditional statutory authority. Donald Trump is using these authorities\nto fast-track pipelines and drilling in the Gulf of--may I say it?--\nMexico. But there is nothing in this declaration to support fossil\nfuel's cleanest competitors: wind and solar.\n  If Trump doing the bidding of billionaires wasn't bad enough, his so-\ncalled emergency will also raise the electric bills of thousands of\nfamilies. Wind and solar are the cheapest energy in the world, and\nthose cheap prices get passed on to the families who take advantage of\nthem.\n  I know personally. A few years ago, my wife and I made the decision\nto install solar panels on the roof of our home. Our home project gave\nunion workers in my community a good-paying job, and it was just one\nproject contributing to hundreds of thousands of jobs created in the\nBiden administration.\n  Since Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act was enacted 2\\1/2\\ years\nago, more than 1\\1/2\\ million Americans have installed solar panels.\nWas it a good idea? Well, I compared the electric bills I had been\nreceiving in my home before and after the solar panels. Before the\nsolar panels were installed on my roof, my monthly bill was about $115\nfor electricity. Now it is $15 because of the solar energy.\n  Every one of these installations also helped to create good-paying\njobs for electricians, carpenters, and other workers, and supplying\nthose panels created thousands of new jobs at factories around the\ncountry. But President Trump is not impressed. He wants to eliminate\nthose jobs.\n  We have an opportunity to undo the harms of one of President Trump's\nmany lies today. I want to thank Senator Kaine of Virginia for leading\nthis effort. We need to raise up American workers, lower utility bills,\nand put America back on track to lead the world on clean energy.\n  I urge my colleagues to support the Kaine measure.\n\n                           January 6 Pardons\n\n  Mr. President, on January 6, 2021, a solemn constitutional proceeding\nwas disrupted when a mob of thugs, egged on by President Trump,\nattacked and trashed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the\nresults of a Presidential election.\n  The grim result of that insurrection was the subsequent death of 5\nlaw enforcement officers and injuries to approximately 140 others, many\nof whom are still paying the price to this day.\n  It came as a shock when, on the first day of Donald Trump's\nPresidency, he issued a blanket pardon for those who had been convicted\nfor that January 6 attack on the Capitol.\n  We all saw the videos. We all saw the photographs. Here is an\nillustration of one of them.\n  Listen to what President Trump said about 1,600 pardons at a recent\npress conference when he was asked: Why did you pardon all those people\nwho attacked the police officers at the Capitol Building?\n  He said:\n\n       I pardoned people that were assaulted themselves. They were\n     assaulted by our government. . . . They didn't assault. They\n     were assaulted, and what I did was a great thing for\n     humanity.\n\n  The American people overwhelmingly disagree with the President, and\nthey disagree with his decision. In fact, 83 percent of them oppose the\npardons that he gave. That includes 70 percent who lean Republican in\ntheir voting.\n  Despite this overwhelming opposition, the Justice Department has now\nbroadened the scope of President Trump's pardons for January 6 rioters\nto include separate charges stemming from searches conducted during\nthose investigations. I will describe a couple of them to you.\n  Federal prosecutors recently dropped explosives and firearm crimes\nbeing pursued against two January 6 defendants pardoned by President\nTrump: Daniel Ball and Elias Costianes.\n  Ball and Costianes had both been charged in separate proceedings with\nillegally possessing weapons that law enforcement discovered during the\nJanuary 6-related search.\n  Ball had been accused of throwing an ``explosive device that\ndetonated upon at least 25 officers'' during the Capitol riot and of\n``forcefully'' shoving police who were trying to protect the Capitol.\n  Ball was barred from possessing firearms because of his prior\ncriminal\n\n[[Page S1382]]\n\nrecord. Listen to this prior criminal record of a man who was pardoned\nby Donald Trump: Before January 6, Ball was convicted of domestic\nviolence battery by strangulation, resisting law enforcement with\nviolence, and battery on a law enforcement officer.\n  President Trump says that poor man was assaulted by the police. Does\nit sound like it? Remember, President Trump told us Ball and his fellow\nrioters were the actual victims. No wonder so many of the January 6\nperpetrators have shown a stunning lack of remorse.\n  Just last Friday, just a few days ago, a number of these pardoned\nindividuals decided to hold their own press conference outside the U.S.\nCapitol to announce their intent to sue the Justice Department for\nprosecuting them for this--dangerous individuals, including former\nProud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio, who had been serving a 22-year\nsentence for seditious conspiracy before the Trump pardon; Proud Boy\nEthan Nordean, who had been serving an 18-year sentence; Dominic\nPezzola, the first rioter to breach the building on January 6, who was\nserving a 10-year sentence for stealing a police riot shield and using\nit to break a window. I will bet you saw that video. I did.\n  The group paraded through the Capitol after the press conference,\nfollowing the same route they took on January 6, 2021. They posed for\nphotos, chanting as they did that day:\n\n       Whose house? Our house.\n\n  After the press conference, Mr. Tarrio was even arrested again\noutside the Capitol for assaulting a female counterprotester.\n  Tarrio also posted video of himself stalking Michael Fanone and Harry\nDunn, former police officers who had defended the Capitol on January 6.\nTarrio was following them through the lobby of a hotel where the\nofficers were attending a conference. While Tarrio followed them, he\nwas calling out at them that they were ``cowards'' and telling them to\n``keep walking.''\n  Does this sound like a man ashamed of his actions on January 6 and\nfull of remorse? Does this sound like an innocent victim of assault?\nNo. This sounds like a man who now thinks he is above the law with his\nTrump pardon and expects to be bailed out by President Trump for every\ncrime he decides to commit.\n  In another horrifying turn, the same hotel that I discussed earlier\nwhere these rioters were stalking policemen had to be evacuated after\nsomeone claiming to be MAGA emailed a threat about four bombs--two in\nthe hotel and one in Officer Fanone's mother's mailbox. After listing\nthe names of several of the conference attendees and singling out\nOfficer Fanone, the email said they ``all deserve to die.''\n  These are men and women in police forces who risked their lives for\nMembers of the Senate and the House of Representatives on January 6.\n  The perpetrator of this tweet claimed to be acting ``to honor the\n[January] 6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump''--his words.\n  These are just last week's updates on the January 6 rioters President\nTrump pardoned. The list of crimes committed by these thugs just keeps\ngrowing longer and longer.\n  We must be clear that these individuals are a threat, and the more\npower and freedom they are given, the more danger they pose to our\ndemocracy and the law enforcement officers and families of those\nofficers that they are harassing.\n  Just this month, dozens of January 6 offenders joined forces on\nsocial media to compile and publicize the identities of at least 124\nindividuals who had been involved in their convictions, including\nprosecutors, judges, and FBI agents. The post, which has received at\nleast 60,000 views, included names, photos, disparaging remarks, and\ndemands for accountability.\n  In January, another pardoned January 6 defendant who pleaded guilty\nto assaulting police officers, Ryan Nichols, Sr., identified in a\nTwitter post ``officers in the DC Jail who need to be investigated for\ncorruption and abuse,'' adding the names and LinkedIn profile photos of\ntwo DC jail employees.\n  This is stalking and harassment of law enforcement men and women who\nwere assigned to this Capitol to protect us. The men and women who\nbravely defended the Members of this body deserve better than this, and\nwe should honor them for their heroic efforts on that day, not excuse\nthe rioters who attacked this Chamber and the ideals it represents.\nGovernment employees should not fear for their safety or that of their\nfamilies for simply doing their job.\n  I hope that all of us, regardless of our political persuasion, will\nfinally agree on one thing: Violence has no place in a democracy, and\nDonald Trump's pardon of these 1,600 January 6 attackers is not only an\ninsult to the Capitol Police who risked their lives to stop them but\nhas emboldened these convicts to harass these officers and their\nfamilies.\n  The question for the Senate is simple: Whose side are you on--the\npolice or the rioters'?\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.\n\n                              S.J. Res. 10\n\n  Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, I want to state the obvious: The United\nStates has real energy needs. We have to produce enough reliable energy\nto make utility bills affordable for families and to bring online the\nadvanced manufacturing and data centers that are powering our economy\nand will power our economy into the future.\n  We are seeing this in Arizona. The demand for energy keeps going up.\nIt is going up rather quickly.\n  Now, here is the good news: The United States is producing more\nenergy than ever before.\n  We are using everything at our disposal. We are finally bringing the\nmanufacturing of solar panels and batteries and wind turbines back to\nAmerica. Now, that creates great-paying jobs across the country, jobs\nthat you can actually raise a family on, jobs that are in places like\nArizona and Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas. We are investing to develop\nnew technologies to produce even more energy.\n  Now, for years, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have\nraised very legitimate concerns about the need to reform our permitting\nprocesses to cut redtape and unleash American manufacturing.\n  Well, Mr. President, here is the bad news: President Trump is now\nthrowing redtape around our energy production, which will raise utility\nbills and send American manufacturing back overseas. One of his first\nactions as President--one of the first things he did--was to block\napprovals of new wind projects on Federal land and then freeze loans\nand freeze grants for clean energy projects. He is making permitting\nharder or impossible. That is the opposite of what my Republican\ncolleagues--your colleagues--wanted done.\n  Now, he also wants to change the definition of energy to only include\nfossil fuels.\n  Mr. President, it is 2025. We all need to live in the real world.\nMore than 90 percent--get this: 90 percent--of new energy production\nconnected to the grid last year was renewable energy. And it takes 3 or\n4 years just to build a natural gas powerplant.\n  There is no good reason to block wind projects, to block solar\nprojects that, by the way, are already underway to bring more energy to\nAmerican homes and businesses.\n  President Trump, what he is doing is he is trying to pick winners and\nlosers. When it comes to energy, he wants to decide, and the winners\nare fossil fuel companies and China. And the losers, Mr. President--the\nlosers--that is everybody else. That is you. That is your family. That\nis your business.\n  And families especially--families--are going to face higher utility\nbills. And manufacturers, they are going to lose the support that they\nwere relying on. And workers are just going to see their jobs go back\noverseas.\n  You think China doesn't want to make more of this stuff and sell it\nto us? Of course, they do. They will be happy to do that, and we will\npay the price. They would love to see President Trump drive clean\nenergy manufacturers that are in America out of business.\n  China would want us to cancel our manufacturing plants and cancel\nthese energy projects. We should not let this happen.\n  We have got an opportunity this week to turn this around. So I am\ngoing to be voting for Senator Kaine and Senator Heinrich's effort so\nthat we can focus on our energy future.\n  Now, fortunately, there is so much that we agree on: the need to\nmodernize our power grid, to bring manufacturing back to America, to\ncreate\n\n[[Page S1383]]\n\njobs and reduce our reliance on imports, and to develop the energy\ntechnologies of the future right here in the United States of America,\nnot in another country, not in China. And all of this supports American\njobs, and, at the same time, it keeps utility bills low for American\nfamilies.\n  Now, some of it will require us to cut some redtape and make things\nmore predictable and efficient for utilities and for energy producers.\nMe and many of my colleagues, we have shown that we are willing to work\non these reforms on a bipartisan basis. So let's do it.\n  And Mr. President--not you, but the President of the United States--\nlet's reverse the shortsighted targeted attacks on our energy supply.\nIf we do that, I know that we can work together and continue to expand\nthe amount of energy this country has at its disposal and bring down\nthe prices for American families and American businesses.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schmitt). The Senator from Colorado.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2025-02-26-pt1-PgS1367-3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6836468130350113, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}