Bruce Westerman: “I thank the gentleman from Washington and commend him for the great work that he has done with the Western Caucus and…”

“I thank the gentleman from Washington and commend him for the great work that he has done with the Western Caucus and also here in Congress to be a voice for rural America and for these areas, like my district, that depend on Natural Resources. Madam Speaker, our country is at a crossroads on the environment. One road leads to a vibrant, all-of-the-above energy approach, where we combine our state-of-the-art technology with hardworking American ingenuity and work ethic to incentivize smart environmental solutions. The other road leads to a top-down regulatory approach in which those in power ban, tax, and prohibit energy access resulting in economic ruin and environmental degradation. It is clear which path President Biden has chosen. With a stroke of a pen, he eliminated thousands of American jobs, put many more into jeopardy, defunded bipartisan conservation programs, and eliminated some of the safest, most reliable forms of energy production and transportation we have. Let's not confuse action with progress. The data is very clear. America leads the world in environmental standards. If our goal is actually a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment--and I hope it is--then we should continue modeling these standards for the rest of the world to follow, while developing the technology of the future.…”