We are at the center of Federal efforts toward environmental justice, and we are a vital--and that concept has been made a vital component of any response to the climate crisis.

As the chairman mentioned, it is difficult to overstate the importance of the work of our committee.

This bill allows those same oil companies to prepare their own environmental reviews.

All told, our committee has passed scores of bills out of the House, and 149 passed Senate and became law--149.

The Subcommittee Chair's bill even lets mining companies conduct their own environmental reviews.

To start with, the Chair's bill explicitly says, and I quote, 'Environmental reviews shall not require consideration of downstream indirect effects of oil and gas consumption.'

I associate myself with the Ranking Member's opening comments. And while my colleagues across the aisle are finally beginning to admit climate change does exist, and that it is real, the bills they are putting forward up for discussion…

The TAP American Energy Act is a fossil fuel industry wish list.

The problem is a fossil fuel industry that is more interested in keeping supply artificially low so that prices stay artificially high.

It feels a little like deja vu. A few weeks ago, we sat in this room while my colleagues across the aisle spent hours scapegoating our environmental review processes.

the mining industry uses up our public lands, ignores tribes' concerns, spills their toxic waste into our communities and waterways, and leaves their messes for the rest of us to clean up . . . the Republicans' bill does nothing to solve…

We want to attract and keep the best, and these skilled and dedicated public servants are needed now more than ever.