Electric Supply Chain Act

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 936 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.

During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, last night the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 936, providing for consideration of six measures.

S. 1071 is the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services or their respective designees, and provides one motion to recommit.

H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act, is under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure or their respective designees, provides one motion to recommit, and makes eight amendments in order.

H.R. 3628, the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act, is under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees, provides one motion to recommit, and makes one amendment in order.

H.R. 3638, the Electric Supply Chain Act, is under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees, provides one motion to recommit, and makes five amendments in order.

H.R. 3668, the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act, is under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees, and provides one motion to recommit.

H.R. 3383, the INVEST Act, is under a structured rule. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services or their respective designees, provides one motion to recommit, and makes five amendments in order.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to debate a rule on six pieces of legislation. First is S. 1071, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of Chairman Mike Rogers and Ranking Member Adam Smith, one of the top priorities of the fiscal year '26 NDAA was to reform the defense acquisition system and equip our armed services with the technology they need to deter national security threats.

As anyone who follows this process knows, it can take more than a decade before new capabilities are finally deployed. Yet, by then, the threat has changed, the technology is outdated, and the program is over budget.

This bill cuts red tape and shifts the focus of the defense acquisition system from compliance to quickly and cost effectively fielding new capabilities to ensure that our armed forces are the most lethal and effective fighting force in the world.

Implementing the Peace Through Strength agenda, the fiscal year '26 NDAA codifies all or parts of 15 executive orders and 30 legislative proposals from President Trump. It fully funds top defense priorities. It revitalizes the defense industrial base. It grows manufacturing jobs in America, all while pressing our NATO allies to pay more for their own defense.

Building upon last year's NDAA, which focused on servicemembers' quality of life, this bill supports a 3.8 percent pay raise, Mr. Speaker, for all servicemembers. It improves housing and Department of Defense schools, and it expands access to healthcare and childcare.

To deter our adversaries, the fiscal year '26 NDAA focuses on countering threats from China, bolsters Taiwan's defense, and supports Indo-Pacific allies and partners.

Additionally, this bill continues the focus on countering threats to our national security from Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other foreign terrorist organizations. To counter emerging threats, the bill focuses on rapidly deploying new and innovative technologies to our warfighters, while strengthening nuclear deterrence and missile defense.

To further secure our border and fight drug trafficking, the fiscal year '26 NDAA fully funds the establishment and enforcement of national defense areas along the southwest border of the United States of America, authorizes the Department of Defense to provide additional support to Customs and Border Protection, and authorizes over $1 billion to combat drug trafficking.

Finally, the fiscal year '26 NDAA reforms programs and saves taxpayer dollars. It saves over $20 billion from DOGE cuts and Department of Defense workforce reforms, improves congressional oversight of Department of Defense audit results, and overhauls military construction to reduce costs and expedite project delivery.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues and all of the staff for their work that went into the fiscal year '26 NDAA which should pass with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Second, Mr. Speaker, we have H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act. This bill contains targeted commonsense reforms to the permitting process under the Clean Water Act, restoring the balance between the need to ensure both water quality and economic growth.

Simply stated, this bill will cut red tape, reduce costly project delays and frivolous litigation, and provide greater regulatory certainty for our Nation's infrastructure builders, energy producers, farmers, homebuilders, water utilities, and small businesses.

Third, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3628, is the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act. This bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require State utility regulators to consider sufficient and reliable generation when considering electric utilities' integrated resource plans.

A stable supply of electricity is critical for most aspects of modern life, and peak demand growth is now higher than any point in 20 years. Net-zero mandates of renewable subsidies have disrupted the market, causing grid reliability issues as demand grows. This bill clarifies that reliable electricity means dispatchable, baseload energy.

Reliable energy is foundational to everything, and this bill will help ensure we have reliable, secure generation that keeps the lights on.

Fourth, Mr. Speaker, is H.R. 3638, the Electric Supply Chain Act. This is a simple bill that directs the Department of Energy to assess our country's electric grid component manufacturing capacity and determine potential problems with imported grid components. We can't afford to fail in securing our electric supply chain. This bipartisan, commonsense legislation aims to ensure we won't.

Fifth, Mr. Speaker, is H.R. 3668, the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act. This bill aims to speed up the consideration of pipelines by promoting interagency coordination for reviewing certain authorizations for LNG facilities and natural gas pipelines under the Natural Gas Act.

Demand for natural gas in the United States has grown by 47 percent since 2013. Infrastructure to deliver that gas, however, has only increased by 26 percent.

Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has the responsibility of authorizing pipelines, and generally, after thorough review, finds these projects consistent with the public interest.

Yet many of these federally approved projects often don't come to fruition because certain States and other agencies fail to issue the proper certifications.

Under the current process, one State has the ability to veto a multi- State pipeline project for reasons far outside the scope of water quality. This results in reliability and affordability issues in resource-constrained areas in our country.

Natural gas is clean, affordable, and reliable. The United States also has an abundant supply, and this bill will ensure we have the pipelines needed to keep up with the continually increasing demand for electricity generation.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, we have H.R. 3383, the INVEST Act. This is a bipartisan package containing 22 pieces of legislation that have all been reported favorably out of the House Committee on Financial Services. This legislation will strengthen public markets, produce more opportunities for investors, and expand access to capital for small businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to consideration of these pieces of legislation. I urge passage of this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Mrs. Biggs).

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Sykes) on the success of her amendments in the legislation. The National Defense Authorization Act is something that I am proud to work on year-round on the Armed Services Committee.

I give a lot of credit to Ranking Member Adam Smith, Chair Mike Rogers, and the members of the House Armed Services Committee for working together in very much a bipartisan fashion to make sure that American citizens are protected, not just here in America, but that our troops have the resources they need around the world to protect themselves so that we can be free here in the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and ``yes'' on the underlying piece of legislation, especially the National Defense Authorization Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want to address a couple of things since, as usual, the Democrats continue to blame President Trump for everything.

Just as a reminder, the Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House until January 2023. They controlled the Senate and White House until January 2025. Every State in this country has a public service commission, so it doesn't make any sense to blame President Trump for what is happening with energy prices when, if you look, it is the States that are controlled by Democrats that have the highest energy prices.

I would suggest that we have a little honest reflection here as we talk about different types of things and where inflation comes from. I would remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the American citizens of the deficits that they ran when they had the House, Senate, and White House. When they passed the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, as they call it, it cost trillions upon trillions upon trillions of dollars.

By the way, it was the Democrats who chose not to extend the subsidies beyond this year when they had the House, Senate, and White House, not the Republicans. It was the Democrats who did that. They voted for it, not us.

Let's just be honest. President Trump is doing a good job. He is making sure that the rules of engagement are set so that the American citizens are protected and the pangas go to the bottom of the ocean.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, if you are over 65, you are not eligible for the tax credit. If you or your spouse work for someone who even offers health insurance, you are not eligible for the tax credit. People on CHIP are not eligible for the tax credit. People on Medicaid are not eligible for the tax credit. If my colleagues think that expanding this tax credit is going to fix the problem, let me just give you a couple of examples from my personal life.

I am covered under the Affordable Care Act today. Do you know what I do when I go to the pharmacy? I don't file it on my health insurance. I pay cash because the cash price is less than the copay on my health insurance. The plans, for the most part, are junk. It is junk, and we are not going to continue to send billions upon billions of dollars to the insurance companies.

The President has made it very clear. We will give the people money to help them purchase their health insurance, but we need more competition in the system so that people could actually buy a good plan that works for them instead of this junk that I have.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I will make sure that my colleague understood what I said and meant when I said that when I go to the pharmacy, I pay cash instead of using my insurance card.

The retail cost of the drug is less than the copay on the insurance.

Mr. Speaker, that is just the reality of the system that Americans are forced to live in.

I thought I might share with you another bill that I kept, where the total charge was $111. As I said, I am covered under the Affordable Care Act. My copay for that doctor's visit was $60. The insurance provider and adjustments were a total of $51. Of that, the insurance company paid $7.99 and just discounted the doctor's bill by $43.01. Again, on a $111 charge, I paid $60, the doctor got beat down by $43, and the insurance company paid $7.99.

Let me just tell you, the Affordable Care Act needs to be replaced with something that actually works for the American citizens. I think the worst thing that has ever happened is when it obtained the name of ObamaCare because then it became about President Obama instead of about what the actual law and the flaws in the piece of legislation are.

Let's just be clear: If we could fix it, we would. However, giving more cash to the health insurance industry that already has record profits and record stock prices is not going to reduce the premium for American citizens as a whole or is it going to improve the quality of care. We have to get competition back into the market.

If it wasn't named ObamaCare, we might have been able to fix it. We might have been able to fix it, but the Democrats are scared to do anything, because their primaries, to change ObamaCare. They are sure not going to give President Trump a vote to fix the mess that they made. They don't want him to get the credit for fixing the mess that they made, so they simply won't vote for anything that would actually work.

Mr. Speaker, I want to get back to some other issues. I want to get back to the National Defense Authorization Act.

It is a dangerous time in the world right now. It is a dangerous time with all of the things happening in China, with all of the aggression of Russia, with all of the things happening in the Western Hemisphere. The National Defense Authorization Act is probably the most important piece of legislation that we pass on an annual basis in this country.

We have two good leaders, Adam Smith and Mike Rogers, and we have a committee that has been able to work together in a bipartisan fashion to put this piece of legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives. It is time to pass this rule. It is time to pass this bill.

As you have heard from some of my Democratic colleagues, they have amendments that they are very proud of in this legislation. I am glad it is a bipartisan piece of legislation. Let's pass this rule. Let's pass this bill, and let's move on.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful that we have a Speaker of the House with the character of Mike Johnson. He is a friend of mine. He is a very devoted individual in many, many ways, and I am thankful that he is the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

I might ask my colleague if she is prepared to close. I don't have any further speakers, Mr. Speaker, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the Record a PBS News article titled: ``Obama reveals how many civilians died in U.S. drone attacks'' under him. It states in here that various human rights groups suggest the range was as high as 1,100 killed by Barack Obama's drone strikes.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this week, the House can advance six pieces of legislation under this rule.

S. 1071, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026, significantly improves the defense acquisition system. This bill implements the peace through strength agenda and restores lethality to our Armed Forces. It further secures America's borders and improves the quality of life for our servicemembers.

The fiscal year 2026 NDAA reforms key programs and saves taxpayer dollars resulting in a ready, capable, and lethal fighting force. This legislation will deter China, defend Israel, and

counter Russia, North Korea, Iran, and other foreign terrorist organizations.

Finally, this bill strengthens our nuclear deterrence, supports the Golden Dome initiative, and grows our Nation's strategic space capabilities. This is a bipartisan, must-pass piece of legislation that all my colleagues should support.

H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act, contains targeted, balanced reforms to the permitting process under the Clean Water Act that will cut red tape, reduce project delays, and provide regulatory certainty.

H.R. 3628, the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act, will require State utility regulators to ensure we have reliable, secure baseload energy that keeps the lights on.

H.R. 3638, the Electric Supply Chain Act, will direct the Department of Energy to ensure we are securing our electric supply chain.

H.R. 3668, the Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews Act, aims to speed up the consideration of pipelines by promoting interagency coordination for reviewing certain authorizations for LNG facilities and natural gas pipelines under the Natural Gas Act.

Lastly, H.R. 3383, the INVEST Act, will strengthen public markets, produce more opportunities for investors, and expand access to capital for small businesses.

The bills before us this week give this body the chance to provide for our defense, to make energy more affordable and reliable, and provide opportunities and access to capital.

They are all worthy of support, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.

The material previously referred to by Ms. Leger Fernandez is as follows:

An Amendment To H. Res. 936 Offered By Ms. Leger Fernandez of New

Mexico

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 9. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the

House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the

bill (H.R. 6074) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

to extend the enhancement of the health care premium tax

credit. All points of order against consideration of the bill

are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points

of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The

previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill

and on any amendment thereto to final passage without

intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally

divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the Committee on Ways and Means or their respective

designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 10. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the

consideration of H.R. 6074.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, do you remember what it was like when you were a kid, waking up on Christmas and hoping for a certain gift?

Maybe it was a Doctor Barbie or a new bike, but then you ran to the tree and got socks that were itchy, a knockoff Barbie whose arms fell off and shoes that didn't quite fit.

Americans know what they need for Christmas as they worry about how they are going to make Christmas affordable and how they are going to make it work. Their costs are skyrocketing from the tariffs increasing costs for toys to grocery bills that are going up and up, and to those utility bills. It is hard to keep those Christmas lights on given the rising costs of utilities.

However, nothing in the bill that we are considering today makes Americans' lives more affordable or merry.

Americans want us to extend the tax credits so their healthcare premiums don't go from $250 to $2,600 a month. They will for my constituent's family of five.

How is a parent supposed to buy Christmas gifts for the kids when they now need to spend an extra $2,000 a month for health insurance?

Instead of lowering costs, what kind of lumps of coal is Congress working on this week?

We have a bill that rigs the energy system to make it more difficult to use clean energy. Wind and solar energy are the cheapest forms of new electricity. The studies prove it over and over, and they are good for the planet. However, Republicans are defining energy to exclude renewables.

If it saves you money, Mr. Speaker, and it is good for the air we breathe, then why wouldn't Congress want us to use more renewable energy?

Instead of making your life better, Republicans are standing with their dirty fossil fuel campaign donors and big corporations that threaten our clean water.

The only thing that we are doing of significance today is the National Defense Authorization Act. Indeed, the 3 percent pay raise for servicemembers and reimbursements to travel to see a doctor for rural bases is really important for our servicemembers and families.

The NDAA's requirement that the Pentagon turn over footage of the boat strikes in the Caribbean is essential to accountability, but I would argue it is not enough. Congress must pass a war powers resolution to prevent a needless and reckless war with Venezuela and any other country Trump decides to attack on a whim.

Trump says that he is going to war with drug traffickers. This is hypocrisy of the highest degree. While Secretary Hegseth was busy blowing up boats of suspected drugs dealers, Trump was pardoning former Honduran President Hernandez. Hernandez was tried, convicted, and sentenced for bringing in 400 tons of drugs to America. There was proof and evidence in a court of law, not random airstrikes and a declaration of a forever war that Congress has not authorized and the American people do not want.

My constituents and Americans all across our beautiful country are outraged that war crimes may have been committed in our name. Two people clinging to an overturned boat in the ocean are not a threat to our Navy, the strongest and most powerful on Earth.

Mr. Speaker, don't insult our intelligence or our pride.

Let me tell you something else, Mr. Speaker, that Republicans really don't want us to talk about today. Speaker Johnson stripped out a provision in the NDAA that would have provided IVF coverage for servicemembers. Today's Republican-led bill destroyed any hope for a Christmas miracle for the servicemen and -women who just want to have a baby and raise a family.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Sykes), who is the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I also applaud the idea of innovation and research, which we should be doing in our military, but we should also be doing the same in every aspect of our economy.

That is why it is so disturbing that Republicans continue to want to look backward rather than forward with regard to our energy future. They refuse to engage, invest in, and celebrate the innovation that is going on with regard to renewable energy and how they are indeed the cheapest forms of energy.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to enter into the Record an article from June 17, 2025, in Scientific American, titled: ``Wind and Solar Energy Are Cheaper Than Electricity from Fossil-Fuel Plants. Even without subsidies, renewable energy is staying competitive. . . .''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 3628 does not address the fact that energy prices are rising. They are 13 percent higher since Trump took office. Trump has called the affordability crisis a Democratic hoax. He insults our intelligence once again every time we open a utility bill or open that notice about what healthcare premiums would be next year.

When we go to the grocery store, we know the affordability crisis is not a hoax. It was created by Trump and his policies, his tariffs, and all of those cuts to our medical programs that Republicans jammed through this summer and their refusal to put before the floor the extension of those tax credits.

In the area of renewable energy, Republicans also continue to close their eyes to how we make life more affordable for Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove), who is also a member of the Democratic Caucus Executive Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

As I said earlier, Americans know what kind of job the President is doing because they are paying those bills every month. Every month, they know that tariffs are causing this inflation, and it is a self- inflicted wound. It wasn't Russia invading Ukraine. It wasn't a pandemic. It was Trump and his tariffs that are not rooted in any kind of true economic policy.

Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of H.R. 6074, which would extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits for 3 years, through 2028.

Yes, they are extensions of time. We would like to see them permanent, but in negotiations, we have always worked on extensions so that we can address issues together in a bipartisan manner.

Millions of Americans are already receiving those notices of health plans where the price is going to skyrocket. I get stopped on the streets where people tell me what they are seeing when they open those bills, and they are drastic. For some, it is a few hundred dollars, but for others, it is $1,000, $2,000. They wonder how they are going to pay just for health insurance. What happens when something goes wrong and they have to pay that doctor's bill?

There are only 8 days left to fix this problem, but Republicans still have no viable healthcare plan of their own.

We heard that they took out a chalkboard and started throwing ideas on there. None of the ideas were to extend the tax credits, which is the quickest and easiest way to make sure that Americans don't see those skyrocketing plans.

Instead, they want to maybe get rid of the Affordable Care Act. They want people to be forced into junk plans, which could force Americans into bankruptcy. By the way, Trump made sure that if you don't pay your healthcare bill, it will go on your credit report. He actually went out of his way to make sure that that happens.

The PQ vote today will be Republicans' 22nd opportunity to vote to prevent the health insurance costs of over 20 million Americans from rising significantly. I hope they finally decide to side with their constituents.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record, along with any extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Underwood), the author of this legislation and a champion in this regard, to discuss our proposal.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, 20 million people rely on this tax credit, so the fact that my colleague doesn't need to rely on it and that he has enough cash so that he can go and buy the prescriptions outright is great for him.

Mr. Speaker, what about those 20 million Americans, many of whom are in his district, who rely on the Affordable Care Act tax credits? Not only that, but Americans want us to do this work. If you were listening to the constituents in the gentleman's district--by the way, a lot of those Republicans aren't having townhalls because their constituents are speaking out.

Mr. Speaker, 74 percent of Americans want us to extend those tax credits. I think it is the easiest thing and the quickest thing that we can do. We are not saying we shouldn't continue to make improvements. In fact, I have

bigger ideas of how we should fix the healthcare system. However, this is the system we have today. With weeks left, it is easy. It is an easy fix. All we need is four Republicans--four Republicans--to have the courage to stand up for their constituents. Whether we see that or not is yet to be seen.

My Republican colleagues send tweets out. We see Republicans signing letters that they want the ACA extended, but we don't see them doing what counts on the floor of the House, which is signing their names to that discharge petition and voting for their constituents and healthcare that is affordable for all Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury), my ``sister''; ``hermana.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I wish that my colleague would have been around to hear from Brick. Brick lives in Utah. He is a constituent of Representative Kennedy. He doesn't have the luxury of being able to go into a pharmacy and pay with cash. He has a rare genetic disease, and under the Affordable Care Act, his life is saved every day. It would cost him $150,000 to pay for the infusions that he needs to receive on a regular monthly basis or else he dies.

It would not help to go in and try to pay with cash when you talk to the worker who I met with. Her son needs transfusions or else he would not be able to play as a regular kid because he would bleed to death, and she cannot afford that either.

The Affordable Care Act, how it is structured, I am willing to take it out. Let me tell you, I am a Medicare for All girl because I think we should get rid of the insurance companies. But we have it now, and I am not going to pull the rug out from under Brick or Julian or any of those other people who rely on it.

Let's talk about what the Affordable Care Act did before we had it. Once we got the Affordable Care Act, it stopped insurance companies from charging sick people more in premiums than healthy people.

Let's talk about preexisting conditions. I am a breast cancer survivor,

and I know so many other survivors. Guess what. I would not be able to get health insurance because you could not get insured if you had a preexisting condition. Let's face it, they were treating being a woman of childbearing age as a preexisting condition until we had the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act demands that insurance companies cover most preventive services. It gives States the flexibility to expand their Medicaid programs, which 40 States have. You know what? Americans want us to keep the Affordable Care Act right now. They want us to extend those tax credits, and we should do that.

We should do that because the other thing it covers is IVF. I know that my colleague has a wonderful family he loves. His daughter is participating in a cheerleading competition. I need to tell you, Representative Scott, I truly appreciated your comments last night with regard to the IVF provision because it should not be the case that a provision that has been negotiated by both Chambers, by the leadership of the committees of jurisdiction, is overturned merely because leadership--I think that means Speaker Johnson--decides to strip it.

As we noted earlier, 13 percent of couples say they need fertility service to help them become pregnant or prevent a miscarriage.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to enter in the Record the article titled: ``Military families face unique barriers to fertility care, and new legislation aims to close the gap.''

Mr. Speaker, that new legislation was just torpedoed by the Republican Speaker of the House. What he did was eliminate the possibility of the joy that comes from bringing a new baby into this world. He dashed that hope.

What kind of leader is Speaker Johnson when he ignores the Senate, his own Members, his own rank and file, and the committee chairs to support his own limited view of what a family should be?

What about President Trump? He said he was the IVF President. I don't see any outrage from him about Speaker Johnson torpedoing Congress' work to benefit military families.

In Congress and in the White House, making a statement on social media like Trump did about IVF is pointless if it isn't combined with legislation and votes.

Republicans, Johnson is your leader. You have the power to push him on

this. You have the power to give this gift of possibility to military families. Don't let him push you around. Our servicemembers will give their lives for our country, but Speaker Johnson will deny them the possibility of a child.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have some other issues I wanted to talk about with my wonderful colleague from across the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the issue of the forever wars that President Trump is leading us down into. As I said in my opening, he says it is to combat drug trafficking, and I agree, we should be arresting and putting these drug dealers away for life.

I don't like the President of Venezuela. He is an authoritarian, a dictator. He is the opposite of what democracy should be like. But let's face it, this isn't about drug dealing because Trump keeps pardoning convicted drug dealers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to enter in the Record the December 8, 2025, article titled: ``Trump pardons major drug traffickers despite his anti-drug rhetoric.''

``The President has granted clemency to about 100 people accused of drug-related crimes during his time in office, a Post analysis shows.''

Mr. Speaker, Trump said he would lower costs for Americans on day one. Guess what he actually did on day one. He pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was convicted of creating the largest online black market for illegal drugs and other illicit goods.

He pardoned Larry Hoover, who imported tons of illegal drugs in a major city, $100 million a year into that city.

Mr. Speaker, Trump is lying to the American people, and he thinks he can play war. War is not something you play with. We do not want another Afghanistan or Iraq where a Republican starts a war that lasts 20 years, costs trillions of dollars, and too many lives. Where is the Republican outrage about these pardons for drug traffickers who kill the people we love in our communities?

I am very glad, as I noted earlier, to see some oversight in calling for the release of the video, but we must be doing more.

My Republican colleagues need to join Democrats in asserting that Congress, and Congress alone, has the authority to declare war.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have half a minute to speak, and we have 22 days to act where we need to pass those tax credit extensions.

For months, we have been urging you to do it. Let's get it done. The bills that we are considering here today, some of them have already passed last week. We should be doing the Americans' goals. We should be extending those tax credits. We should be doing it now. I call on four Republicans to join us and sign that discharge petition. Help us give Americans a healthy Christmas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 3638 requires the Department of Energy to conduct an assessment and draft periodic reports on the state of the electric supply chain.

I understand that our electric supply chain is important for national security and grid reliability, but I have to question the Republicans' seriousness in making this request and the ability of the Department of Energy to conduct these assessments and draft the periodic reports.

President Trump has decimated and undermined our Federal agencies and dedicated civil servants who fulfill their missions while also stealing Federal funds promised to local communities all across the Nation. He has created constant uncertainty for businesses with the administration's ever-changing tariff regime.

Mr. Chair, as we consider this bill, it is important that we consider the context in which it will be implemented, if enacted into law.

This bill is asking the Department of Energy to do more with less. Elon Musk and the DOGE minions decimated the Department of Energy, purging more than 3,500 dedicated and hardworking Department staff. On top of that, just a few weeks ago, Secretary Wright unveiled a reorganization of the agency that eliminated key offices, including the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, which would have been tasked with carrying out the very report required by this bill.

Back in October, DOE canceled over $7 billion in energy project awards throughout the Nation, including nearly $1 billion from projects funded through the then Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. My office heard from numerous awardees who were left confused and frustrated by the complete lack of communication from DOE on this matter. Many of these grantees heard about their grant cancellation by reading stories in the media, and some still have not received any formal communication from the Department of Energy.

If the Department of Energy doesn't even have the capacity to communicate with grantees who were promised Federal support that has now been stolen away, one really has to wonder if the Trump DOE would prioritize staff time for the development of this report.

After all, the Trump Department of Energy does not respond to inquiries from Congress. We have reached out to Secretary Wright on several occasions, demanding answers about the staffing cuts and project cancellations, and to date we have received zero response.

Mr. Chairman, this is entirely unacceptable. We need straightforward answers from DOE on how these cuts have impacted the Department's ability to do its job.

My opposition to this bill is common sense. We need to understand the Department of Energy's current capacity constraints before we assign the agency more work. Committee Democrats offered amendments during the subcommittee and full committee markups of this bill to that effect, which were voted down by committee Republicans.

While I agree that it is important to understand the vulnerabilities in our electric supply chain, we must first understand the vulnerabilities and constraints of the agency that is tasked with completing the report.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. McClellan).

Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I find it deeply ironic that congressional Republicans are supportive of a study to assess matters impacting the supply chain for the power sector, yet remain completely silent on the Trump administration policies that are currently negatively impacting the electric supply chain.

Let's look at Trump's disastrous tariffs on steel and aluminum. These materials are essential components in our electric infrastructure from power lines to transformers. Slapping a hefty tariff on steel and aluminum only exacerbates current supply chain issues and could cause grid infrastructure costs to skyrocket.

For example, we know that there is already a shortage of transformers, which are crucial to our electric system as they transport energy to our homes and businesses. Yet President Trump's tariffs on steel are only serving to complicate an already fragile supply chain that is already complicated by long lead times.

These additional costs from tariffs could also be passed on to consumers, which is especially concerning at a time when electricity prices are up 13 percent across the country. While I appreciate the intent of the bill to understand the current state of our electric supply chain, I will just point out that if Republicans are asking DOE to study these issues while also failing to call out the Trump administration for continuing to enact policies that only make the problem worse--including the mass firings at the Department of Energy, the haphazard recent reorganization of DOE that seemingly eliminated the very offices that would carry out this study, and Secretary Wright's problematic project cancellations impacting dozens of grant recipients--if my Republican colleagues are serious about assessing and addressing vulnerabilities in our electric supply chain, it is time they speak out against harmful Trump administration policies that threaten our electric supply chain.

Mr. Chair, I also urge President Trump and my Republican colleagues to stop turning a blind eye to the affordability crisis.

American families are struggling, and President Trump and congressional Republicans are to blame. Yet, they continue to bring forth bills that will do nothing to meaningfully address the issue of affordability in this country. Don't be mistaken, they have no real plans to address it.

Just last week, President Trump called the affordability crisis a con job crafted by the Democrats. Even FOX News reported that 76 percent of Americans view the economy negatively. That is how truly out of touch President Trump is with the alarming reality millions of American families are facing.

Let me help paint the picture for President Trump and his Republican accomplices: Utility bills are skyrocketing across the country, grocery prices are up, and the cost of buying a new home feels out of reach for far too many Americans. This is all exacerbated by the fact that millions of Americans are facing the sobering reality that their healthcare premiums are surging because Trump and congressional Republicans refuse to extend the premium tax credits to help keep costs down for millions of families.

Electricity costs are now up 13 percent, as I mentioned. That figure is even higher in some parts of the country, and more than 80 million Americans are struggling to pay their utility bills. In fact, since 2023, household utility debt has risen over 30 percent.

This should be a red flag to President Trump and Republicans that this is, in fact, not a con job--affordability--devised by the Democrats, but a frightening and worsening reality.

These rising costs are debilitating to American families, and the Republican response is a slate of bills that assign busywork to an already thinly stretched agency and a bad-faith attack on the deployment of clean energy and battery storage.

I have said before, but it bears repeating: The Trump administration only cares about addressing affordability for their fossil fuel friends. It is time for Republicans to come to the table to work with Democrats on the solution to this affordability crisis for the sake of American families.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I urge opposition to the amendment because it peddles in gross xenophobia and fear of immigrants that has become the calling card of Republicans during the Trump years.

The amendment would require the Department of Energy to add to its

study vulnerabilities from the employment of non-U.S. citizens at generation or transmission facilities.

Now, I agree with the gentleman that our electric system needs to be secure, but I do not agree with him that every electrical engineer who comes to this country for a better life needs to live in fear of ICE and DOE showing up and harassing them at their place of work.

There are enough real threats to our grid. Congress does not need to concern itself with imaginary threats as well.

Mr. Chair, I urge opposition to the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. Chair, while I have grave concerns about the Department of Energy's ability to carry out and execute on the studies and reports required by this bill, if we are going to ask them to do those studies, then I think this addition is harmless.

I would point out that, while the gentleman's amendment focuses explicitly on efforts by foreign entities of concern to exploit supply chain disruptions to undermine our leadership in the field of AI. I am concerned about any effort by foreign entities of concern to exploit energy supply chain disruptions. That is why I have been dismayed at the fact that President Trump and the Republican Party have totally dismantled the infrastructure that we built up to strengthen our energy supply chains.

The reality is that there are more threats to our energy supply chains today than there were a year ago because of the big, ugly bill and the sledgehammer that DOGE and Secretary Wright took to the Department of Energy. That is a large reason why I oppose the overall bill. But this amendment isn't about that.

While I still oppose the underlying bill, I do not oppose the amendment, even though I think it is too narrow.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment recognizes that it is not enough for us to manufacture critical grid and supply chain components, they must be able to be actually delivered and installed on the grid. This is a worthwhile addition to the bill.

However, I lament that while my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can recognize the equal importance of manufacturing supply chain components and transporting and delivering them, they are unable to recognize the same when it comes to electricity. To do anyone any good, electricity must not only be generated, it must be carried to its destination on the grid.

However, House Republicans, especially those on the Energy and Commerce Committee, have been completely unwilling to acknowledge the role that expanding the grid must play in any serious, bipartisan conversation on permitting.

The bills this week and next week aren't a serious attempt at permitting reform, far from it. One of them tells us that, despite Democrats talking for the last 3 years about the need to strengthen the grid in the face of rising demand, Republicans have still failed to acknowledge that need or that reality for that matter.

Again, I think this is a bad bill. I think the Department of Energy has not made clear to us that it has the resources or the ability to carry out this bill. I think that instead of trying to get the DOE to maybe write us a report telling us what we already know, we should focus on concrete actions that could shore up our supply chain: restoring the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, and restoring the incentives to build in America that were killed by the big, ugly bill. All these things are really what we need to do.

However, Republicans are not willing to do that, so I don't know what else to say.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3638.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3638, the Electric Supply Chain Act, sponsored by my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

This legislation directs the Department of Energy to conduct ongoing assessments and report to Congress on the components and infrastructure supply chain needed to secure the reliability and affordability of our bulk power system.

It is no secret that we find ourselves in the middle of an electric reliability crisis that is threatening the integrity of our bulk power systems and an affordability crisis that burdens households with higher energy bills.

Unfortunately, 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration and excessive litigation, permitting delays, and far-left regulatory decisions to attack baseload power sources in favor of expensive and unreliable wind and solar have handicapped the ability of our bulk power systems to respond to growing demands for energy.

Historic projections of increasing electricity demand from domestic manufacturing, onshoring, and AI data centers have exposed systemic challenges facing our electric sector and the supply chain for components and infrastructure needed to power the system.

Meanwhile, our overreliance on China for manufacturing and critical minerals has created a reliance on our own strategic adversary for our supply chain needs.

Our electric grid is an essential tool for the national and economic security of our Nation. Simply put, we need to work with the Trump administration to make it easier to build in our country so that free- market investment for the electric supply chain flow into communities across the country, driving economic growth and creating good-paying jobs for households.

That is why the Electric Supply Chain Act will ensure that our Federal Government remains in a proactive posture to assess, identify, and address any challenges to our supply chain grid for grid components. H.R. 3638 takes a comprehensive look at the supply chain for our electric grid and appropriately incorporates the advice and views of experts spanning the power sector.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), the sponsor of this bill and the distinguished chairman of the Energy Subcommittee.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), the vice chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my friend bringing up the enhanced or COVID- era premium tax credits that are expiring at the end of this month. Since we are talking energy tonight, we need to understand that they were set to expire, without a single Republican vote, to expire them in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was spent money on the Green New Deal.

So when you put in context what President Trump said--when the premium tax credits were set to expire, we had a hearing on that and we were talking about it. We asked: Why in the world did the Democrats set them to expire? They said: We thought the price of insurance was going to go down at the end of 5 years. That is what somebody said in the committee. The price of insurance has gone up because of the policies they put in place. The price of energy has gone up because of policies put in their place.

What President Trump was talking about--I don't know if it was that exact speech that was referred to, Mr. Chair, but a speech where he had a chart up to show where high energy prices are. They are in States with general assemblies that have progressive ideas on energy that have put restraints on energy that have driven up the price.

Unfortunately, we have friends across the Atlantic we can look at. They put these kind of policies in place, and Europe has three times the energy prices that we have. What we are saying over here is that we need to have policies that lower the prices for everybody, not raise the cost and just subsidize it, but to lower the cost for everybody. That is what we are trying to do. That is what we are working to do.

What frustrates President Trump is when we are trying to fix the problems that were created by the policies of the previous administration. They say we are not addressing affordability when they created the affordability crisis, when they made the premium tax credits expire. They didn't deal with the fact that health insurance premiums are continuing to rise. Here we are dealing with it and trying to get it right for the American people.

When you say that wind and solar is cheaper and then complain because you took away the tax--people aren't doing it because you take away the tax credits and subsidies. If it is cheaper and more reliable, then you don't have to subsidize it.

Those are the kind of frustrating things in the context of what President Trump was trying to say. Since States have a lot of influence in this, what we are doing here in the first bill is ensuring that States focus on how do you make it reliable and affordable, particularly in States like Colorado where my colleague, Mr. Evans, who put the bill forward, is from. Their rates continue to go up because of policies of their general assembly in their State. He just wants to ensure that their State factors in affordability when they make those kinds of decisions. That is what we are here to talk about.

Then, in order to build again after years of delaying building, we have a supply chain that has to get reinvigorated. You can sit down and talk to AI companies and people that need data and need energy.

I am one for every electron on the grid we can put on the grid, whether it comes from a solar panel or wind or hydrocarbons, as long as it is not subsidized. We need it all.

My friend from Ohio has a bill saying that we know that it takes too long to get a generator, takes too long to get a transformer, takes too long to get turbine blades, and that we have to make sure our supply chain is in place, and

also make sure that the Department of Energy is focused on it. I know they are. Secretary Wright is focused on it to make sure there is a statute that we have Congress saying the supply chain is important.

Delivering energy at an affordable price is a priority. That is what these two bills today do. That is what this bill does, and I recommend that my colleagues vote for this bill.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment, though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment from my colleague, Representative Houlihan from Pennsylvania.

This amendment requires DOE to evaluate the potential role transitioning military servicemembers could play in meeting the workforce needs for the electric supply chain.

Mr. Chair, while our efforts to reshore domestic manufacturing facilities bolster our national security, it is also important to recognize the economic benefits of attracting new opportunities for job-creating industries.

Growing investments in the manufacturing sector create stable and good-paying jobs for households and drive economic growth in communities across our country. Our men and women seeking new employment after transitioning back to civilian life bring incredible skill sets and expertise to the table that could benefit companies of all kinds.

By incorporating new consideration for DOE to evaluate the potential for transitioning servicemembers into the workforce as part of H.R. 3638, we can ensure our veterans have access to good-paying jobs.

Mr. Chair, having served in the military, I know in the military we get specific skills. We can be diesel mechanics. We can be all these different things we learn in the military. Sometimes they directly translate actually, but some others don't. It creates the opportunity to reach out and find military members who are leaving the military and who have specific skills for these opportunities.

Mr. Chair, I support this amendment. I was meeting with some people the other day in this kind of industry. They said if they advertise $120,000 a year for MBAs, they get a flood of applications. If they advertise $120,000 a year for skilled truck drivers, they barely get enough. They don't get enough applications.

There are opportunities for people to make a good living and have a career. It is not just a wage but a wage that produces for their families and will let them--he or she--be extremely successful. I support this amendment.

Mr. Chair, since we are talking military, I must say: Go Army. Beat Navy on Saturday.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. Chair, I thank my friend from California for offering this amendment.

This amendment would incorporate advanced transmission technologies into the supply chain considerations that the Department of Energy would also need to assess, as part of their responsibilities in this bill. In certain circumstances, advanced transmission technologies can help get more resources out of our current system by expanding the grid's electric load-carrying capacity.

However, these are not one-size-fits-all technology, and there are important engineering complexities to consider to ensure the system operates efficiently. We must ensure they are implemented, when it is appropriate, and cost-effective so we can secure the grid without burdening ratepayers with unnecessary investments.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of Ms. Houlahan, and I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this straightforward amendment to the Electric Supply Chain Act, an amendment that strengthens our workforce, supports veterans, and helps ensure the reliability and security of our Nation's energy supply.

As a Representative of California, I know how essential it is that we shore up the workforce powering our electric supply chain. Manufacturers in California and across the country consistently tell us the same thing: Workforce shortages are slowing down projects, driving up costs, and ultimately are a major contributor to higher prices for working families.

The data is clear: Nearly 10,000 electricians retire each year, while only about 7,000 new entrants come in each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Goldman Sachs has estimated the United States will need roughly 510,000 new workers just to meet rising power demand over the next decade. Annually, we have more than 200,000 servicemembers who transition out of the military, many with exactly the same technical skills, discipline, and mission-focused mindset that our energy system needs and that employers are looking for.

This amendment would simply direct the Department of Energy to regularly assess how to expand veteran, servicemember, and military spouse participation in this workforce, what barriers are preventing entry into these fields, and where improved Federal coordination can better coordinate this talent to areas of real need.

Strengthening supply chains means strengthening the people behind them. Few are better prepared for these careers than our veterans and military families, and this is an important transition for them, as well.

This is a practical improvement to the underlying bill, which promotes national security, energy resilience, and economic opportunity for those who have served.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, my amendment to the Electric Supply Chain Act would expand the periodic reports required under this bill to include a critical assessment of advanced transmission technologies.

In my district and across the country, families are seeing soaring energy costs brought on by load growth and extreme weather, including wildfires. An aging and inefficient grid is bottlenecking the growing demand for new and reliable power, causing prices to go up and limiting the electrons that can reach areas that need this electricity.

We must meet this challenge, grow our economy, and bring down the energy bills that are rising so quickly and crushing so many of our constituents today. To do that, we need to build more transmission infrastructure.

We also need to leverage innovation that we have to maximize our current electric transmission rights-of-way. Advanced transmission technologies like high-performance conductors present a unique opportunity to upgrade the electric grid we already have and ensure that new infrastructure is more efficient and affordable.

According to the Department of Energy, using advanced conductors can double the capacity of existing transmission lines, and over 100,000 miles of lines can currently benefit from these technologies.

Importantly, these technologies have minimal land use impacts, can be installed without the decades-long permitting timelines required for new lines, and increase the resiliency of the grid against wildfires helping keep districts like mine safe from the growing threats of these natural disasters that are often under severe fire risk.

It is why major utilities in California are building their lines with advanced

conductors and why States across the country are passing new laws to promote their adoption.

I am proud to actually represent two of the largest manufacturers of advanced transmission conductors in my district: CTC Global and TS Conductor. These companies are extraordinary examples of American innovation and manufacturing which is helping pioneer the grid of the future and create high-skilled domestic jobs in the process.

Mr. Chairman, I urge Members to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.