On the recordJune 29, 2020
It is absolutely the best path forward. When you take the good committee work that we have engaged in and you then bring that to the floor, as we have, we had substantive process. We are so close to getting this measure actually through the Senate, but I think we recognize that, as we do that, that ideal package is not before us right yet. As the chairman and the ranking member on the committee, we have received requests from Members who have items in our energy bill who are seeking to include them as potential amendments on the NDAA, which is currently on the floor. I have actually filed two amendments to NDAA. One is the text of our Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, and the other is our American Mineral Security Act. Effectively, this provides a second pathway in case we remain blocked on our energy bill. I want to say that this is not the preferred path at all. That is not where we want to go with this bill. My clear, clear, clear, and undeniable preference is that we enact all of these measures as part of the energy package. So to my colleagues who might think, ``Well, wait, I see a few energy-related provisions; what is going on?'' we are not taking our foot off the gas of our American Energy Innovation Act. I know, Senator Manchin, you have been working with us on some of these amendments that we are dealing with within NDAA, but I know you also greatly prefer to pass them as part of our broader energy bill.
