Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (WA-04) and other Republican committee members issued the following statements after the second hearing on the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009 (H.R. 3534). This bill would establish more roadblocks on the road to American energy production and job creation.

“Before we know it, the American people will be forced to pay more at the pump again. And when they reach for their wallets, they’ll ask ‘why didn’t the Administration and Congress take action to actually increase all types of domestic energy?’ Americans won’t like the answer. Because unless the Administration and Democrat Leaders in Congress pass the Republican all-of-the-above energy plan, they’ll have to explain that they were focused on trying to pass a National Energy Tax bill and a Roadblock to Energy bill that will actually make it harder and more expensive to produce American energy,” said Full Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings (R-WA)

“This legislation does nothing to create new jobs, except those jobs created within the new government offices. We need to be putting the 14.9 million unemployed Americans back to work. Instead, this administration is intent on creating more bureaucratic red tape that will lead to more systemic job loss. In Utah, the greatest bouts of recent unemployment aren’t coming from economic factors, but are instead the direct result of decisions made by this administration to delete thousands of needed jobs,” said Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Subcommittee Ranking Member on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

“As millions of Americans struggle to find a job or keep jobs, the last thing they need is a Congress bent on choking off our domestic energy supply and making it more expensive to fill their gas tanks and heat their homes. Yet that is exactly what the Democrat bill will do. H.R. 3534, the CLEAR Act, will expand the size of government, increase regulations, and stifle energy exploration. It’s exactly what the American people are speaking out against – another big government takeover. We must find ways to lower energy costs and become independent of foreign producers. We need to open up access to our domestic energy, not choke it off. I support an all-of-the-above energy plan.” said Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Subcommittee Ranking Member on Energy and Mineral Resources

“Rahall’s bill would also prevent the development of offshore aquaculture, an industry that would facilitate safe seafood sources, reduce our increasing dependence on imported seafood while creating desperately needed jobs for unemployed fishermen in South Carolina and providing an economic boost to our coastal communities,” said Congressman Henry Brown (R-SC), Subcommittee Ranking Member on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife

“The Democrat’s no-energy bill is a sham and a smack in the face to the American people. It is yet another piece of legislation that adds additional layers of bureaucracy to energy development, rather than an actual solution. This bill just expands the government, costs us American jobs and sends more of our dollars overseas through intensifying production barriers. American energy production keeps jobs at home, and keeps our dollars at home and I fail to understand how a Member of Congress could be against such an ideal,” said Congressman Don Young (R-AK)

“What Americans need right now are jobs. Instead, my friends in the majority party are destroying them. H.R. 3534 is just the latest bill to strangle industries and destroy jobs through over-regulation and over-reaching. Unemployment skyrocketed after the ‘stimulus’ bill became law. The cap-and-trade bill is expected to kill 620,000 jobs a year. The health care reform measures could kill 5.5 million jobs over the next 10 years. H.R. 3534 will also destroy jobs. What we need is a commonsense, job-creating, energy-producing bill. This is not it,” said Congressman Elton Gallegly (R-CA)

"At a time when our economy is hurting, we should be looking for ways to create jobs, lower the cost of energy, and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. Unfortunately, all this bill does is raise taxes, create more big government and expensive bureaucracy, and make it more difficult to develop new sources of American energy like nuclear and oil, and even wind and solar energy!” said Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

“In combination with the Waxman-Markey cap and tax bill, this legislation will hinder economic development, kill jobs, and increase our reliance on foreign oil. We don’t need another no-energy bill; we need an energy policy that will actually provide for American families. The Republican plan, the American Energy Act, features an all-of-the-above energy approach that will create jobs and increase domestic energy production,” said Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA)

“I strongly support programs to enhance alternative and renewable energy, and I am very encouraged by the investments in innovation and technology by the domestic producers of oil and gas for responsible development. Unfortunately, the CLEAR Act falls short of addressing the need to facilitate public access to domestic sources of energy. This bill creates new levels of bureaucracy which inevitably will slow new energy development. Now is not the time to further delay the advancement of America’s energy portfolio,” said Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE)

“Instead of promoting roadblocks, I hope the Speaker instead considers our all-of-the-above energy approach that promotes alternative fuels to reduce carbon emissions, encourages increased efficiencies, advances cutting edge energy technologies, and ultimately produces American energy with American workers in an environmentally safe way,” said Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA)

“I represent Louisiana’s 4^th Congressional District, where the largest natural gas shale in America, the Haynesville Shale, was recently discovered. We know that energy equals jobs. This bill does nothing to encourage American energy independence, puts up serious roadblocks to production, increases dependence on foreign sources of oil and reduces the number of U.S. jobs. With unemployment numbers rising, we need an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy solution that brings about energy independence and creates jobs for hard working Americans,” said Congressman John Fleming (R-LA)

“This bill is just another example of the Democrats’ ‘more-bureaucracy-more-taxes’ agenda that is simply out of touch with the needs of American people. At a time when Congress should be doing everything possible to encourage job creation and domestic energy production, Democrats put forth a bill that will make it harder to produce American energy and harder for the almost 15 million unemployed Americans to find jobs and afford to heat their homes and fill their gas tanks,” said Congressman Mike Coffman (R-CO)

“The Department of the Interior needs to focus its attention on becoming efficient and responsive to the needs of the American people, not the growth of government that the CLEAR Act calls for. For example, Diamond K. Gypsum, Inc (DKG) is a small business in Utah whose future depends on the approval of a 5-year, 12 acre mining permit. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management has been unresponsive and seemingly unwilling to assist DKG in obtaining this permit. In the meantime production has ceased, and the future of DKG is uncertain. For situations such as this, the federal government should either get out of the way of small companies like DKG or offer a fair and decent explanation as to why the BLM is choosing to shut them down. I am anxious for Secretary Salazar’s written response to my questions concerning the state of Diamond K. Gypsum, Inc,” said Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

“Not only will this bill put a giant stop sign on the road to domestic energy development, it will directly lead to the loss of more good paying American jobs. Today, almost 1 in 10 Americans are out of work. In Wyoming, the unemployment rate has nearly doubled. Instead of creating jobs by opening additional areas for exploration, Democrats want to add to an ever burgeoning government bureaucracy and delay more wind, solar, nuclear, oil and natural gas production,” said Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)

“This bill adds insult to Cap & Trade’s injury. It demonstrates a thorough misunderstanding of the role of domestic energy production in America’s economy and national security. Energy production grows the economy, creates jobs, and strengthens energy security. Instead of building barriers to responsible energy production, Congress should incentivize it,” said Congressman Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

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