Today, in the face of record gas prices, inflation, severe drought and catastrophic wildfires, the House Committee on Natural Resources majority began a markup on legislation to regulate the ownership of "Big Cats." 

"With the committee having not met to mark up legislation in more than two months, I’d hoped we’d be coming back today to consider bills lowering sky-high energy costs, addressing drought in the West, mitigating catastrophic wildfires, or bringing immediate relief to any other of the myriad crises plaguing our country and impacting millions of Americans," House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said during the markup. "That’s why, when I saw the majority’s big-ticket item on today’s agenda was a bill to regulate big cat ownership, I wondered, 'maybe we should stop streaming our subscription services and turn on the local news broadcast?'... Americans are not talking about tigers; they’re feeling their budgets getting tighter as gasoline prices have skyrocketed to a record national average of $4.91 per gallon. Meanwhile, though we should be expanding production of American energy here at home, our constituents are watching President Biden call on Iran and Venezuela for oil and natural gas and lift tariffs on solar panels constructed by slave labor overseas – a major giveaway China’s state subsidized companies and the Chinese Communist Party."

Background

As of Tuesday, the national average for a gallon of gas is $4.91, an all-time high. Prices remain much higher in urban areas. Economists project that the average national retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline will surpass $6 per gallon by August. 

A new report shows Americans will spend $5,000 this year on gas, a 78 percent increase from the $2,800 Americans spent a year ago. 

While the Committee on Natural Resources has direct jurisdiction over on and offshore energy leases, Chair Raúl Grijalva has yet to put forward a single energy bill for markup in 2022. After committee Republicans shared stories about their constituents feeling the effects of skyrocketing gas prices and pointed out the necessity of investing in domestic energy opportunities, Grijalva abruptly adjourned the markup.

Watch Westerman's full opening statement here