Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 21. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle know that, as a Representative for the energy capital of the world in Houston, I support domestic energy production. We produce oil and gas better. We have better environmental standards, better worker safety standards, and better emission reduction efforts and opportunities. We know it is important to produce energy domestically for our economy and for our national security. We also know that domestic production of oil and gas is a complicated system, from upstream exploration and production to downstream refining and transportation along the way. That is why I oppose this bill. It doesn't reflect the reality of how oil and gas production works or solve the problem I think it seeks to solve. Oil and gas production is a long and expensive process. Leases are executed many years before production begins if it begins at all. When we are talking about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we are talking about crude oil that has been produced and stored for emergency use. If what we are trying to do is make sure that the SPR is full and available, we should pass legislation to require the government to replenish it after sales are made, to buy when the price is low. If what we are trying to do is increase domestic production, we should be working on permitting reform and addressing issues in the capital markets that are making investments more difficult.…”