Tim Kaine: “I rise to talk about a piece of legislation that was announced last night by a very close friend of mine, Senator…”

“I rise to talk about a piece of legislation that was announced last night by a very close friend of mine, Senator Manchin of West Virginia--the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022. Senator Manchin and I were Governors together, and we sit next to each other on the Senate floor. And we are often in agreement. And on this particular bill--it is 91 pages long, and there are 24 sections--we are in agreement on 23 of the 24 sections and 86 of the 91 pages. I want to talk about the permitting reform provisions in the bill that I support, but then I want to point out significant concerns with section 24 of the bill that is sort of an anti-permitting reform bill. It would take one project that is in my State, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, out of permitting processes, out of judicial review, and have Congress put our thumb on the scale, advancing the project immune from the normal permitting process and judicial review. I would like to start by saying I am a strong supporter of American energy independence, and I applaud the efforts of my colleague Senator Manchin to do the same. I voted with a number of Senators a few years ago to end the ban on export of crude oil from the United States. And I have strongly supported liquefied natural gas exports to help nations around the world wean themselves off of energy dependence on dictators like Vladimir Putin. I also firmly believe in the need for permitting reform.…”