Mike Conaway: “I thank the gentleman from California for yielding. This may not be the topic that he is going to talk about here, but I…”

“I thank the gentleman from California for yielding. This may not be the topic that he is going to talk about here, but I appreciate the time to be able to talk to something that is important to the folks of west Texas and is actually important to all Americans. I rise today to bring attention to an important issue that is gathering nationwide support, that is, repealing the export ban on crude oil. This week, I submitted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would, in fact, repeal the ban. While the amendment did not ultimately make it into the final bill, I would like to take a moment to talk about the importance of lifting that ban. First, let's remember why the export ban was placed into law to begin with. Because of the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, Congress enacted the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, directing the President to ban crude oil exports. At the time, the ban served a purpose: to keep our oil at home in order to reduce our exposure to the wildly fluctuating markets of that time. Today, though, the ban has outlived its purpose. It is an antiquated policy that is now only serving to harm Americans and punish domestic production. For example, right now we allow Iran to export more oil from their country than we do from our own domestic producers. This is wrongheaded and is long overdue for a change.…”