On the recordFebruary 5, 2014
I would like to thank my friend from Missouri for allowing me to speak tonight. Thank you for organizing this. I think this is an important issue. In fact, I would say that this is a critical issue. It is a great example of why the American people don't trust the Federal Government. Let me say that again. The American people don't trust the Federal Government. So much of what they do doesn't make any sense, and so much of what the EPA does doesn't make any sense. I was the chair of the Subcommittee on the Environment, and we had direct oversight over EPA. Again and again, I saw examples of the things that they did that illustrated that they were an agency that is, in many ways, out of control. At one point, they had proposed regulations over ozone that were virtually impossible for many Western States to comply with, Western States like my home State of Utah. Their regulations would have been so restrictive that there was more naturally occurring ozone than they would have allowed. It doesn't make any sense. There are multiple studies that were sponsored by the EPA concerning supposed contamination of groundwater from fracking that were so sloppy and so obviously biased that even the EPA had to finally admit to them and withdraw their own studies. Once again, it doesn't make any sense. Why would the EPA try to stop fracking, a technology that has led to cheaper energy, more efficient energy, jobs, and economic growth in many parts of our country?…
