Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, it is winter, and in Rhode Island, in my State, one-third of our households rely on oil to heat their homes. In response to increased energy prices, the Biden administration has released oil from the strategic reserve to provide much-needed relief to families who are worried about heating their homes this winter. My colleague across the aisle is correct. Extreme weather events like blizzards and cold snaps are emergencies that are legitimate uses of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but now, in one of the first acts of this Congress, the leadership on the other side has introduced a bill that will restrict the ability of the administration to lower energy costs for working Americans by introducing unnecessary red tape into the process. People are struggling to heat their homes this winter in my State and in States all across the country, so I am offering an amendment that will prevent this legislation from taking effect if the Secretary of Energy determines that it will negatively impact households that use oil to heat their homes. I understand that this will not be popular with the oil companies that are looking to increase their enormous profits by expanding their drilling on public lands as quickly as possible, but we have a responsibility to the people back home to make sure that we do not do something that will impact the administration's ability to help people heat their homes this winter. Mr.…”