Click here to watch Ranking Member Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senator floor about the damaging energy provisions in the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree.

Barrasso is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR). 

Senator Barrasso’s remarks: 

“I come to the floor today to talk about energy prices, which we know are spiking all across the country. 

“As the president is soaring off to a climate conference in Scotland, energy prices are soaring here at home. 

“This year alone, we have seen energy costs spiking for families all across this country. 

“Energy prices have gone up, not just by a little – they’ve gone up a lot. 

“The cost of filling your tank with gas is up by about a dollar a gallon today compared to the day Joe Biden was sworn in as president. 

“As a result, my constituents in Wyoming are paying about $25 to $30 more per tank every time they fill up, every time they go to the pump than they would have done in January when Joe Biden was sworn in. 

“It’s not just gasoline prices that are up in our cars and trucks, it’s natural gas prices that are way up – a seven year high for gas at the pump, a seven year high for natural gas. 

“All of these things are impacting people, especially as winter is coming.  People use natural gas to heat their homes, to cool their homes. They use natural gas to cook. 

“It shouldn’t be this way where we see these skyrocketing prices because in America, we have the largest energy resources in the world. 

“Much of them are in home state of Wyoming.

“Under the last presidential administration, America became the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. 

“Yet, what we have seen on the first day of his administration, President Biden declared war on American energy, on energy produced here at home in America. 

“On that very first day in office, he killed the Keystone XL pipeline. 

“That action immediately ended the jobs of thousands of individuals at the height of a pandemic. 

“President Biden didn’t stop there, he went further and shut down exploration of oil and gas in the Arctic. 

“He banned oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters. It was ruled illegal, and he did it anyway. 

“President Biden’s radical anti-American energy agenda is hurting our economy, and people in every state of the union are paying the price and feeling the pain today. 

“They’re feeling it with higher energy bills. Any time they pay an energy bill, they are paying more. 

“So what do the Democrats want to do about this? 

“They want to make it worse. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are pushing a $3.5 trillion reckless tax and spending spree. 

“Last month in the Energy Committee, one commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had something to say about this. 

“He said it would be ‘like an H-bomb’ on America’s electric markets. 

“That’s because the bill that the Democrats are trying to push through on a party line vote is actually just the disastrous ‘green new deal’ with a new name. 

“So what’s in this bill? 

“It would effectively kill coal, oil, and natural gas permitting on federal lands. 

“It would replicate California’s unreliable electric grid on a national scale. 

“The result would be what they’ve see in California – rolling blackouts, service that is less reliable, and costs that are even higher. 

“The Democrat bill would impose punishing new taxes on natural gas producers. 

“These fees would be passed along to consumers in their energy bills. 

“It would create a new tax on mining firms based on how much dirt they move. 

“Democrats literally – in their legislation with 40 different taxes on it – now have a dirt tax. 

“The bill would waste $27 billion on a slush fund for environmental activists. It’s not clear exactly what this $27 billion would be used for. 

“We can be sure that taxpayers won’t be getting that money back. Taxpayers won’t see that money ever again. 

“How they actually dish out the money is completely open-ended. 

“What we do know is, it could be used to hire activists – armies of lawyers and mobs to protest. 

“Their goal is to shut down energy, our industries, and the energy economy – harming families, throwing people out of work. 

“And finally, this large bill would give huge tax breaks to rich people who want to buy electric vehicles. 

“The Democrats’ spending bill would give up to $12,500 to married couples who make as much as $800,000 per year. 

“To get the tax break, all they would need to do is buy a luxury electric vehicle. 

“The American people are already paying high energy prices because President Biden is blocking American energy. There isn’t enough supply to meet demand and the Democrats have complained about it. 

“How do they make the situation worse? 

“They impose punishing fees. They waste billions of taxpayer dollars. They shut down the abundant and affordable energy sources that fuel our economy.  

“American families can’t afford the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree.

“Here we are today with the president off to Scotland. He’ll be there for Halloween, and people around this country will be suffering the nightmare of high energy costs. 

“Not that long ago, we were a nation of energy wealth and energy dominance, but this president and this administration has changed it to make us a nation of energy weakness and as a nation, we are now dependent on others for energy. 

“The American people wouldn’t believe that today we are using more energy, more oil from Russia than we are from Alaska, but that’s what this president has brought to this country – a jackpot for Vladimir Putin and energy workers out of work here at home. 

“It’s a disgrace.”

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