Improving Interagency Coordination for Pipeline Reviews 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. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 3668. This bill is an outright assault on our Nation's environmental laws. It completely strips States of their ability to enforce clean water laws when it comes to pipelines.

I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that I was surprised when I first saw this provision in the bill. I thought Republicans were the party of States' rights, so surely they wouldn't take away a State's right to enforce their laws and have a voice in the pipeline siting process.

Democrats offered an amendment at our committee markup that would have struck this provision, and Republicans voted against it.

Here we are. Republicans are on the House floor pushing forward legislation that actively and intentionally sells out States' rights. Much like their promise to lower prices, I guess that was also just an empty campaign slogan.

Their bill goes even further than that. It also makes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, responsible for enforcing the Clean Water Act for pipelines. Now, there is just one problem with that, and that is that FERC has no idea how to do that.

At an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in April, we heard from FERC that they do not currently have the staff expertise or resources to execute this bill properly.

This bill is also a bad solution in search of a nonexistent problem. FERC confirmed for us that they have not even seen issues with State clean water permits for pipelines. As usual, Republicans simply do not care about the facts.

The language surrounding the Clean Water Act is not the only defect with this bill. Despite claiming that the bill aims to improve interagency coordination for pipeline permits and authorizations, the bill actually discourages it by pitting agencies against each other.

Instead of letting FERC work collaboratively with other agencies, as the process does now, this bill makes FERC the adversary of other agencies by forcing it to breathe down every other agency's neck and make decisions on whether to exclude other agencies from the review process entirely. That is simply not an efficient or collaborative process, in my opinion.

I also want to take a moment to note that while Republicans are obsessed with destroying our public health and environmental laws in order to speed up the construction of more pipelines, they have failed to pass basic laws to ensure that those pipelines are safe.

The authorization for pipeline safety activities at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, expired about 2 years ago. At no point in the last 2 years have Republicans put a bill on the floor that would reauthorize pipeline safety activities. I guess they don't care about that either.

Instead, they have allowed the Trump administration to run roughshod over the very concept of safety, repealing numerous rules designed to protect our communities and workers, and even withdrawing the rule that was required by law that President Trump himself signed.

This bill, Mr. Speaker, and other energy bills we considered this week out of the Committee on Energy and Commerce are not a serious attempt at a permitting package. I know the Republicans keep saying that this is permitting reform. That is absolutely not true. They do absolutely nothing to make it easier to expand or improve our power grid, despite this being a time when our grid reliability is a growing threat.

For years, Democrats have been clear: A permitting package is impossible without reforms to the way we build transmission lines that transport electricity across the country. None of these bills addresses that either.

Instead, we have a slate of bills that cut corners for fossil fuel infrastructure, abolish States' rights to have a role in the pipeline process, and serve absolutely no one, except the worst corporate polluters, all while the Trump administration blocks and cancels new clean energy projects across the country.

Mr. Speaker, these bills basically double down on failed Republican energy policies that have already driven up energy bills on American families and pollution in just the 10 months since Trump took office.

The President promised to cut Americans' power bills in half. Instead, he and Republicans are causing them to soar with their backward policies and their war on cheaper clean energy.

Electricity prices are up 13 percent nationwide, and Trump calls the issue of affordability a hoax. That is how out of touch the President is, and the Republicans continue to blindly follow him down the path.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me say I have great respect for the sponsor of this bill, the gentleman from North Carolina, but I can't believe that he raised the issue of electricity prices in the context of this bill.

The bottom line is that electricity prices are up 13 percent nationwide just since President Trump took office--I already mentioned that--and natural gas prices are up 8 percent nationwide since a year ago, 14 percent in my home State of New Jersey, in part due to increased exports of liquefied natural gas. Both of these figures are vastly outpacing inflation, which is already sky high, thanks to the President's tariffs and the healthcare and housing crisis.

Let there be no mistake that Republicans and President Trump own this affordability crisis, and affordability isn't, as the President said, a Democratic scam. It is an issue that is impacting hundreds of millions of American families that, each week, are struggling to make ends meet.

Energy affordability is especially critical. Eighty million Americans are struggling to pay their utility bills. Republicans refuse to do anything about it, and this bill is only going to make it worse.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, the Republicans have made this whole situation with electricity prices so much worse. The big, ugly bill that they passed this summer will raise electricity prices by over 61 percent over the next decade, thanks to its attacks on clean energy. The President's pursuit of unlimited LNG exports would increase natural gas costs by over 50 percent, and that is on top of the thousands of dollars that the President's tariffs have already cost American families.

The Republicans have no plan to address the affordability crisis. American families are forced to pay the price, and this bill is only going to make it worse.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Landsman), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I once again rise in strong opposition to this bill. I have to say that I keep hearing from my Republican colleagues about permitting reform. In fact, they have been calling this permitting week here in the House.

The reality is they are not interested in any kind of permitting reform unless it involves streamlining the ability to eliminate barriers for fossil fuels, for gas pipelines, for example.

They have no interest in dealing with permitting reform in general that, perhaps, would help bring clean sources of energy to the public. I would like to have more opportunities for clean energy and for renewables, and we can certainly work on permitting reform in that regard. However, the President doesn't want that. The President says that there shouldn't be any windmills, there shouldn't be any solar panels, and there shouldn't be any renewables at all. The only thing he wants to do is go back to fossil fuels: oil, gas, and coal.

When I hear about permitting reform on the other side, I kind of laugh. That is because we could be working together with Republicans on proposals that would lower the costs of energy and unleash domestic clean energy. Permitting reform, in an effort to eliminate barriers to clean energy, could be on the table, but they don't want to do that.

Instead of proposals to make things better, Republicans are offering bills that would discriminate against clean energy, would mandate old and expensive coal plants to stay online long past their retirement date, and this bill, which would strip States of their ability to enforce their clean water laws on gas pipelines.

Instead of doing what I would consider the hard work to find a bipartisan path forward, Republicans are simply giving up. I think this is incredibly damaging to the House as an institution. Republicans could have worked hand in hand with Democrats here and in the Senate, and we could have then all worked together to find a path forward. Instead, bullied into submission by President Trump and the MAGAs, Republicans are moving bills with no Democratic support, and they are cutting the House entirely out of any discussions with regard to any permitting reform. It is just a shame.

Instead of discussing this bill that essentially pollutes our waters, we should be discussing legislation that would make it easier to plan, permit, and pay for an expansion of the power grid. A lot of that could be based on clean energy. Instead of discussing this legislation, we should be discussing ways to reinstate the billions in grants and loans that were approved by Congress that the Trump administration illegally cut off during the Republican shutdown.

Instead of discussing this awful bill today, we could be discussing proposals to grant certainty to energy developers so the President can't just arbitrarily cancel a wind or a solar project just because he doesn't like the way it looks, which is what he says all the time.

There is a lot that we could be doing with regard to trying to bring more energy to market, including clean energy, but we are not doing those things. Instead, we are here discussing a partisan Republican bill that strips States of their rights and is going nowhere.

That is just the way it is, I guess. It is unbelievable.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. I heard what the previous speaker said, and this rehashes the same thing that we discussed with some of the bills that were voted on yesterday, which is this notion that somehow fossil fuels are reliable and renewables are not.

There are reliability problems with every form of energy, but what we need to do is to say that we are going to do all of the above. In other words, we are not going to just say, as the Republicans want, we are only using fossil fuels: oil, gas, and coal. There are problems with reliability with those.

We need to have everything, all of the above. Republicans keep saying that they are for all of the above, but the President and Republicans continually say: No renewables, no wind, no solar, and other forms of renewables.

This idea that somehow one form of energy is more reliable than another is simply not the case.

However, that is not what I want to talk about as I close, Mr. Speaker. I want you to understand and my colleagues to understand how concerned I am about pipeline safety which, of course, they simply ignore.

I mentioned this earlier, but one of the things that really disturbs me about this bill is that Republicans are pushing to remove environmental safeguards for gas pipelines at the same time they are refusing to act on vitally important pipeline safety legislation.

Authorization for PHMSA, the pipeline safety statute that we have, expired over 2 years ago on September 30, 2023. Since then, Republicans haven't moved a single bill on pipeline safety to the floor of the House. They simply have not. It is certainly not because everything is going well with pipeline safety. DOGE devastated PHMSA's pipeline safety office in the Department of Energy.

Energy Transfer, a pipeline company and key ally of President Trump, is attempting to declare pipeline safety enforcement unconstitutional in the courts. This spring, pipeline safety enforcement actions dropped to a new low. It is just a disaster over at the Department of Energy. There is nobody doing anything about pipeline safety.

Democrats wondered if this was an oversight by Republicans. Surely they would want to ensure that pipelines are safe before making it easier to build more of them. Mr. Speaker, my colleague Ranking Member Castor filed an amendment to this bill that would have prohibited this bill from taking effect until Congress reauthorized the pipeline safety bill.

Unfortunately, Republicans blocked it from coming to the floor. Apparently, they are happy to talk about removing environmental protections for gas pipelines, but are still, I would think, ashamed to talk about how they are letting vital safety provisions expire.

Congress cannot guarantee the safety of pipelines if the folks who are supposed to be policing them are no longer on the beat. My point is that they keep talking about permitting reform, but they don't work with us on that. They keep saying that they want all kinds of energy, but they cut off any possibility of clean energy with renewables. Then they say that we don't need to have any kind of restrictions whatsoever or investigation to review when we site pipelines, but at the same time they gut and refuse to do anything about pipeline safety in general.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this bill is a threat to our safety, and it is a threat to the environment. I urge my colleagues to oppose it, and I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 936, I call up the bill (H.R. 3668) to promote interagency coordination for reviewing certain authorizations under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. 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. 3668.

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

Mr. Speaker, our Nation is at the crossroads when it comes to powering our future. This pivotal moment will shape our economic trajectory, national security, and global competitiveness.

After years of modest growth in electricity consumption, the next 5 years could see upwards of 128 gigawatts of new demand. The vast majority of this demand growth will require new, baseload, dispatchable power, and natural gas will fill that gap.

Unfortunately, the build-out of interstate natural gas pipeline infrastructure has faced significant challenges. Approvals are often delayed due to a lack of coordination, pure inaction, or outright obstruction by States and relevant Federal agencies.

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act has turned into a procedural chokepoint with varying application and drawn-out State reviews, undermining otherwise federally authorized projects.

This has resulted in energy shortages in certain areas of the country, exposing consumers to high prices and our grid to increased vulnerability.

In fact, a recent study estimated that pipeline blockades have already driven average natural gas prices up by 160 percent in major demand centers. This doesn't have to be the case.

Activist States like New York have used their delegated authority under section 401 to repeatedly kill interstate natural gas pipeline projects. These Clean Water Act denials haven't been because of legitimate water quality impact concern. The basis of these blockades has been in the name of radical climate agendas, ignoring what is best for consumers, grid reliability, and economic growth.

During the 2013 to 2021 time period, several pipeline projects were canceled, leading to a pipeline capacity growth of only 26 percent. Meanwhile, natural gas demand increased by 49 percent. This trend will be compounded if there are not statutory reforms.

H.R. 3668 would strengthen the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's, FERC, lead agency role and further define the process for participating agencies.

Additionally, under this legislation, instead of having to obtain a section 401 certification from a State through its EPA-delegated authority, FERC would incorporate this water quality review into its existing National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, review, including any terms or conditions proposed by States that are required for compliance with the underlying statute.

Opponents argue that this legislation will gut the Clean Water Act. However, this legislation doesn't even amend the Clean Water Act. It maintains statutory protections of legitimate water quality concerns.

FERC already analyzes water quality impacts as part of the NEPA process, imposes mitigation measures as needed, and is equipped to respond to raised concerns as part of the review process.

Again, nothing in this legislation alters the environmental review of these projects. Expanding natural gas pipeline capacity is estimated to save Americans $76 billion by 2040.

Without statutory reforms to section 401 of the Clean Water Act, these savings will not be realized, our Nation will not be able to compete with China in the intelligence race, and our electric grid will experience serious vulnerabilities.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson).

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

Mr. Speaker, just to point out some things here, when you are talking about changes in electricity prices over the last 20 years, it is important to look at this chart. This is from the EIA. If you look at the top 12--and as the gentleman from North Carolina pointed out about his legislation, especially in New England, the States up there, look at what has happened here. Look at California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island in the top six. We can see these prices going up. Round up the top 12, and Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey are also in there. What is happening is why we have to

have this legislation. When States are pushing back on trying to get the pipelines in and pushing for just one type of energy source, it is hurting their people.

We know that because, earlier this year, there was an article that came out that the New England Governors were all complaining that their citizens were going to pay 40 percent more for utility prices this fall. Why is that? It is right here. This is why this legislation is needed.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Dakota (Mrs. Fedorchak), who is the at-large Representative.

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

Mr. Speaker, natural gas is the most affordable and reliable energy solution. Also, if it comes from the United States, then it is clean. An expanded pipeline capacity is critical to lowering costs for American families and businesses.

We have had hearings on pipeline safety this past summer.

For too long, States have used section 401 authority as a one-State veto of multistate projects with national significance.

Again, the facts speak for themselves. Mr. Speaker, if you want to look at the top 12, it is New England, New Jersey, and New York. If you want, Mr. Speaker, ask these people who live there, or ask their Governors, their State legislators, or their regulators why their prices are so high.

It is simple. It is because, again, these States have used that veto.

As global natural gas demand is projected to continue to grow for decades to come, investment in pipeline projects will be of utmost importance for keeping prices low for our Nation and to keep it secure.

In the 1970s, when we had an oil embargo across this country when the Arabs cut us off, we were told we had no energy in this country. What has happened? If you put the right laws in place and have the regulations that follow and turn the entrepreneurs and innovators loose in this country, we are number one in the world--number one in the world. We produce more natural gas. It is the cleanest.

This is what we are looking at. We had a hearing early this year with our RTOs and ISOs that regulate across the energy grid out there. They told us all the same thing. We have to produce more energy in this country, not less, and at the same time, we better not be taking any generation offline.

Right now, we are scheduled to take 115 gigawatts of power offline in this country. Our adversaries in Communist China are doing what? They are outproducing us. We are projected to need 170 gigawatts on top of that.

It is time that people wake up. We have an all-of-the-above policy in this country. Republicans brought it forth in 2008. In 2008, we said that we are not going to pick the winners and losers, and that is important. When the Federal Government wants to go out there and pick the winners and losers, this country is going to lose.

H.R. 3668 is the solution. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson) for his leadership, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the slate of permitting bills that the Republican majority has brought to the House Floor this week. These bills roll back vital protections that ensure our constituents have access to clean air and water, and can weigh in on projects that will affect the health of their selves, their families, and their community.

Make no mistake, the six bills before the House this week are not a commonsense, bipartisan permitting package. They are the latest attempt for President Trump and Congressional Republicans to roll back protections for our environment so that their big oil and gas friends can ``drill, baby, drill'' without consequence or punishment.

Republicans claim that H.R. 3893, the PERMIT Act, just cuts unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. That is false. In reality, the PERMIT Act is a partisan package of over a dozen bills that roll back the Clean Water Act, further weakening protections on our rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands. This bill protects polluters from responsibility for treating toxic pollution in their waste stream like lead, mercury, selenium, PFAS, and arsenic. If enacted, the PERMIT Act will lead to an increase in the unregulated discharge of these harmful chemicals into local bodies of water.

In addition to the PERMIT Act, House Republicans have brought five additional bills forward that will raise prices for consumers and prioritize polluters over the American people. Let me tell you just how bad these bills are:

H.R. 3668 would strip states of their ability to enforce their own clean water laws concerning natural gas pipelines.

H.R. 3628 would force states to show arbitrary preference for fossil fuels over clean, cheap energy.

H.R. 3638 would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to issue a supply chain report, asking DOE to do more with less after Elon Musk and DOGE forced out 3,500 DOE employees and put the agency's capacity to write such a report in doubt. If Republicans are concerned about energy supply chains, they should start by repealing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which attacked tax credits and programs designed to strengthen our supply chains.

H.R. 3616 would grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unprecedented power to veto or demand changes to any federal agency action, including environmental rules.

H.R. 3632 would force old, expensive power plants to stay online for up to five years after their scheduled retirement date, sending already-high electricity bills through the roof.

Mr. Speaker, these bills do not exist in a vacuum. We are considering these bills in the wake of Trump Administration actions to cancel and stall clean energy projects. In October, President Trump canceled over $7.5 billion in grants for 223 clean energy projects. President Trump canceled over $714 million in funding for Minnesota. These grants would have funded battery storage for a more stable grid, modernized transmission lines, and funded a battery recycling education program at Macalester College.

My Republican colleagues want to talk about permitting reform? Let's talk about how President Trump is weaponizing the existing permitting process to freeze the approval of permits for onshore wind and solar projects, leaving thousands of megawatts of clean power in limbo at a time when demand for electricity is sky rocking. If Republicans succeed in passing these bills and gutting protections for our communities and environment, it will mean that oil and gas companies have an easier pathway to polluting the land, air, and water we all rely on.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose all six of these bills. I once again urge the Republican House Majority to stop bringing these harmful bills that fast-track fossil fuel projects, restrict communities' ability to challenge harmful development, and work to undermine clean energy development. This is not the way to improve Americans' lives.