Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, after serving on a school board, in my State legislature, and now in Congress, I have witnessed firsthand that government works better when it is closest to the people. That is why I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 44, which disapproves the Bureau of Land Management's 2.0 Planning rule.

I commend the gentlewoman from Wyoming for introducing this legislation on behalf of her constituents as

well as Americans all across the country that desire more effective government.

The Planning 2.0 rule will fundamentally change the way land management decisions are made, and I believe it will fundamentally change them for the worse. Planning 2.0 puts faith in a faraway, Washington-based one-size-fits-all approach to land management decisions.

BLM has a light footprint in my home State of Arkansas, but last year I had the opportunity to attend a field hearing in St. George, Utah. I saw firsthand the mismanagement by the BLM and how it impacts real people.

Individuals from Washington County, Utah, told our field hearing of the heavy-handed approach BLM takes toward local landowners in management decisions. Local officials talked about how BLM has also ignored the will of Congress by ensuring updated resource management plans decrease grazing permits or effectively stop the construction of roads that are authorized in Federal legislation. Land management changes should be made in a collaborative way, with ample State and local input.

Despite what some people may think, Congress and Congress' will still matters. Planning 2.0 marginalizes State and local officials in favor of unelected bureaucrats and special interests. By passing H.J. Res. 44, we will remind Federal agencies that they work for the people.

Mr. Speaker, we are not a people of the government, by the government, and for the government. We have a government that is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. The people's voice should be heard in major land management decisions. H.J. Res. 44 will make the BLM listen to their voice.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, American workers and American businesses are the most innovative and productive in the world. This is no more evident than in our oil and gas fields--the ones in my district, in my State, across our country, and offshore.

Mr. Speaker, in spite of the Obama administration's war on energy, our producers made huge gains in technology, production, and productivity to meet the needs and lower energy costs.

The gentleman from California is correct, energy production has increased during the Obama administration. According to this 2016 CBO report, both oil and gas production has increased on State and private lands both onshore and offshore. However, during the same time, under the heavy hand of the Obama administration, production on Federal lands has decreased. The Energy Information Administration reported that oil production on non-Federal lands has increased 89 percent while it has decreased 10 percent on Federal lands, while gas production has increased 37 percent on non-Federal lands and decreased 37 percent on Federal lands.

The Bureau of Land Management's venting and flaring rule is an overreach of the Obama administration. This is not about the environment. It is about extending the war on energy to private and State lands. The rule increases costs on producers, which are then passed on to customers, stifling job growth and hurting the economy.

The BLM, as it has already been said, does not even have the legal authority to regulate air quality. It is an authority expressly provided to the EPA by the Clean Air Act. Methane emissions are already on the decline, dropping 21 percent since 1990 to 2014. This drop occurred despite the rise in natural gas production by nearly 47 percent. If the venting and flaring rule goes into full effect, it will cost nearly $1 billion by 2025.

The result of overregulation is a decrease in domestic energy production, lost jobs, a battered economy, and an increased dependence on foreign energy sources. A repeal of the venting and flaring rule is necessary to protect our economy, the Constitution, and the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.

``Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.''

I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in support of this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, many of my constituents are much like me. We are ready for a government that works like the one that we studied in civics class, one with coequal branches of power.

Winston Churchill once stated that the price of greatness is responsibility. As members of the legislative branch, voting ``yes'' for this amendment is a responsible step in the right direction.

Section 2:

``The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.''