Political Quotes

“I oppose this amendment, which would strike provisions in the bill to incentivize responsible domestic energy production, create jobs, and reduce energy costs for American families. This amendment would preserve the higher royalty rates for oil and gas on Federal lands and waters that were just recently raised by my colleagues across the aisle. Democrat talking points ignore the reality of what it takes to produce energy on Federal lands, while at the same time advocating for increased royalties that will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy costs. The House Natural Resources Committee held a field hearing for H.R. 1 last month where we heard directly from operators that produce on Federal, State, and private lands. Unfortunately, none of our Democrat colleagues came with us to participate in that hearing or they would have heard the facts. It takes less than a week to obtain a drilling permit from the States of Texas or New Mexico, and it takes over 180 days to obtain a permit from the BLM. That is just one drilling permit. Operators sometimes need 30 to 50 permits and right-of-ways from a Federal agency to develop a project on Federal lands. It is these delays and inefficiencies that demonstrate why the royalty rate should be lower on Federal lands.…”