Mr. Speaker, since coming to Congress, I have had the distinct honor to represent the Pennsylvania's oil region and the Allegheny National Forest. Among our many economic drivers in Pennsylvania,…
Mr. Speaker, since coming to Congress, I have had the distinct honor to represent the Pennsylvania's oil region and the Allegheny National Forest.
Among our many economic drivers in Pennsylvania, energy development played a critical historical role in Pennsylvania and the country and continues to be among our essential legacy industries in the Fifth Congressional District of Pennsylvania.
While some of this energy production originally started with mining in the 18th century, the Pennsylvania oil rush in the mid-1800s changed America and has since had profound impacts on the world abroad.
In the late 1850s, Edwin Drake, who later adopted the title of ``colonel,'' came to Titusville in search of oil deposits. Unsuccessful at first, he eventually made a breakthrough by drilling vertically through iron piping.
In 1859, Drake drilled 70 feet down and finally struck oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The result was the world's first commercial oil well and the birth of the modern petroleum industry.
Immediately after this innovation, the great oil rush began in Pennsylvania, attracting John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil, among others.
Due to this important history, 700 square miles of the region were designated in 2004 as the Oil Region National Heritage Area, as recognized by the U.S. National Park Service.
In the following decades, after Drake's well, the oil industry grew throughout northwestern Pennsylvania, along with the production of high-value hardwood timber and forest products.
Finally, in 1923, the Allegheny National Forest was established in four nearby counties: Warren, Elk, Forest, and McKean. When the Allegheny was created, the Federal Government only purchased the surface rights, intentionally leaving the mineral rights in private hands due to the then well-established oil industry and its importance to the local economy.
Since then, the Allegheny has largely operated harmoniously as a multiple-use forest, providing energy, forest products, good local jobs, recreation, conservation, wildlife habitat, and environmental benefits.
However, mineral rights owners and the local industry have had significant challenges in recent years due to efforts by some to force more Federal regulations on oil and gas production in the Allegheny.
In 2009, the Forest Service settled out of court with environmental activists to apply, for the first time, the National Energy Policy Act to the leasing and permitting process in the forest.
After nearly a decade in the courts, the settlement was correctly overturned when the court opined that the Forest Service lacked the legal authority to require new regulations because the Federal Government does not own the mineral rights.
Throughout this process, some tried to justify settlement by pointing to a provision contained in the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which directed the Forest Service to write new oil and gas regulations, specifically on the Allegheny because of its split estates.
In the years between 1992 and the settlement, this provision was never implemented because of the well-established working relationship between the Forest Service and local mineral owners.
In short, there was no reason to move forward with new rules because production was already more than adequately regulated.
Since the courts have repeatedly spoken in favor of the mineral rights owners and ruled that the Federal Government has no authority to write such rules, I have introduced H.R. 2316, the Cooperative Management of Mineral Rights Act, to correct the existing law.
This legislation, if implemented, will repeal the requirements contained in the 1992 Energy Policy Act. By removing this language, the bill will help ensure that mineral rights owners and the Allegheny National Forest will be able to continue to access their property and the Forest Service does not write new rules in the forest.
This legislation will also help to prevent further litigation, additional economic hardship in the region, and further waste of taxpayer dollars. The bill does not affect existing environmental regulations in any way.
In the last Congress, the House passed the previous version with a bipartisan overwhelming vote.
I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues during the 115th Congress passing this legislation into law.
Reflecting on Yesterday's Horrific Incident
Mr. Speaker, I want to reflect just briefly on the horrific incident that occurred yesterday. It impacted so many friends and colleagues, and I certainly offer prayers for Steve Scalise and all those who were injured in that terrible incident.
I offer my appreciation for the bravery of the Capitol Police that prevented many deaths from occurring with their heroic efforts of running to the sounds of the gun, even after the one officer being wounded, pulling herself up to prevent further injury and certainly fatalities.
I also want to offer a call to replace, starting within this institution, on this floor, the attacks of hateful personal politics and resistance, and to replace that with respect, to return respect to this Capitol, to this floor, to our Nation, to our communities, and certainly to our families.
And I just pray to God that God--the Scripture talks about how God will take acts of evil and use them for good, and I just pray that the evil, the horrific evil that was conducted yesterday, that this be an example that God will use that for good and that we replace the hateful rhetoric and resistance with respect.
