Bruce Westerman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his leadership in the Western Caucus and on these important issues that…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his leadership in the Western Caucus and on these important issues that mean a lot to places like the Fourth District of Arkansas, to all over rural America, where out-of-touch policies in D.C. have a negative impact on people's daily lives, and just being able to earn a living, to pay their taxes, and to provide the goods and services that the rest of the world needs. So I appreciate you hosting this Special Order. For years, it has been clear to rural America that our Federal permitting and environmental review processes are broken. While well- intentioned, they are doing more harm than good. The current system is complex, burdensome, and ineffective, yet the political elite in Washington, D.C., wonder why our farmers, ranchers, and energy producers struggle. Far-left special interest groups have weaponized, as Mr. Newhouse said, well-intentioned laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, and they use them as clubs to bludgeon or kill critical infrastructure, natural resource management, and energy and minerals development projects across the United States. Delays in environmental regulatory systems are especially acute. In 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality showed that the average time for a Federal agency to complete a final environmental impact statement through the NEPA process--again, Mr. Newhouse quoted this number--is 4\1/2\ years.…”