Byron Donalds: “As is often said in this Chamber, I didn't anticipate debating, but as I sit on the floor listening to some of the…”

“As is often said in this Chamber, I didn't anticipate debating, but as I sit on the floor listening to some of the things coming from the Democrats about this bill, a lot of it is just simply not true. The Democrats are accusing us of providing funds and slush funds to Big Oil, but in the very Inflation Reduction Act that they passed last Congress--on a partisan basis, mind you--there is $20 billion in that bill that goes to the green energy--I don't know--environment slush fund. The EPA is already saying, Mr. Chair, that that $20 billion is being basically earmarked for a handful of special interests that the American people have no idea about. The Democrats want to lecture us about making sure that we stop the polluters, but their own energy plan actually empowers the biggest polluter on the planet, and that is China. It is China that mines all the minerals for electric batteries, and China does not care about emission standards. The Democrats have no problem empowering China when it comes to mineral production. They have no problem empowering China when it comes to oil production. They just want to limit it here in the United States. This is the same backward thinking that the Europeans have realized in the face of Putin's aggression in Ukraine. It was all good to let Russia drill as long as Europe didn't drill. Mr. Chair, that does not work when it comes to energy production. H.R. 1 brings common sense back to America's energy matrix.…”