Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I stress again that the President promised to cut Americans' power bills in half. Instead, he and his Republican accomplices in the House are causing those prices to soar with their backward policies and, essentially, their war on cheaper, clean energy. Thanks to Republicans, electricity prices are climbing more than twice as fast as inflation, and more than 80 million Americans are struggling to pay their utility bills. Many of these Americans are having to make the impossible choice of either paying for housing, medicine, and food, or keeping their lights on. Let me just give some examples. Since President Trump took office, electricity prices are up, 13 percent nationwide, as I mentioned. However, in Iowa, they are up 23 percent. In North Carolina, they are up 21 percent. In Pennsylvania, they are up 16 percent. Mr. Speaker, electricity prices aren't the only bills that are skyrocketing. Residential natural gas prices are now 8 percent higher than they were a year ago nationally, but, again, 19 percent in Pennsylvania, 14 percent in Wisconsin, and 13 percent in North Carolina. We mentioned that the big, ugly bill will raise electricity prices by a staggering 61 percent over the next decade due to its attacks on cleaner and cheaper energy and its crippling of the American clean energy industry. The big, ugly bill destroyed tax credits that were designed to incentivize developers to build more domestic energy projects, raising barriers to those buildings in the process, and it will half the deployment of cheap, renewable American energy and imperil our power grid. These historic price hikes are on top of the $29 billion in electricity bill rate hikes that utility companies have requested since the start of President Trump's term. Mr. Speaker, I don't want to just talk about prices because the bottom line is we are also talking with this bill about a cost to Americans' health and safety. This bill allows FERC to override regulations established by other agencies. This is the Christmas gift to some of the Nation's largest polluters. Think about that. FERC, which has no expertise in public health or environmental protections, would just be able to stop another agency's regulation meant to protect public health. These are regulations that are responsible for safe drinking water, for reducing air pollution, and preventing exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. We are not just talking about price increases here that the Trump administration has imposed. We are also talking about the impact on health and people's ability to breathe and drink clean water. By advancing this bill, Republicans are telling communities that their health and safety is not a priority. Pollution is exacerbating your child's asthma. Who cares? Your water may be contaminated. That is nothing to worry about. We don't care. Other agencies spent years crafting regulations, often after an extensive analysis that shows that the benefits of that regulation from a health and safety point of view outweighs the costs. However, this bill would throw all of that out the door by allowing FERC, which has no expertise in these areas, to just say ``no,'' and FERC doesn't even want to do it. They told us. As the ranking member of the Energy Subcommittee, Ms. Castor, said-- they literally told us at the committee--that they didn't want to do this and didn't have the capacity to do it. We have made so much progress in the United States on environmental protection over the last 50 years. Our Nation's rivers used to catch fire. Now, they don't. Smog used to surround our cities, particularly Los Angeles. Now, it doesn't. President Trump and House Republicans want to undo all of that. They have waged an all-out war against public health, and this bill is just one piece of that. If my colleagues care about public health, if they care about prices, if they want to make sure people can breathe and can still pay their electricity bills, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. It just makes common sense. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, today would have been Congressman Don Payne, Jr.'s, 67th birthday. Don was more than a colleague to me. He was family. He called me Uncle Frank, and that meant a lot to me. In the House, our names often appeared right next to each other on the voting board, Pallone, P-A, and Payne, P-A-Y. Many times, when we were voting on civil rights, housing, or issues affecting urban communities, I would look to see how Don voted because to me he was the conscience of our delegation. He was someone who grounded big national decisions in live reality. Don dedicated his life to public service, from the Newark City Council to county freeholder to Congress, and always it was trying to improve peoples' lives on healthcare, the environment, or public safety. Happy birthday, Don. Your legacy continues, and we are carrying the work forward.

Mr. PALLONE

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

Mr. PALLONE

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

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

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Dorothy Giamboi on her conclusion of service to the Borough of Metuchen Council. After fourteen years, Dorothy stands as the longest-serving Council Member in Metuchen's history. Please join me in celebrating my long-time friend, Dorothy Giamboi, for her outstanding contributions to the community. Since 2011, Councilwoman Dorothy Giamboi has served on the Metuchen Borough Council, acting as the liaison to the Metuchen Chamber of Commerce, Development Commission, Municipal Alliance/Youth Services Board, and currently to the Shade Tree Commission, Environmental Commission, and Senior Citizen Commission. In addition to her leadership within the council, Dorothy has served on the Middlesex County Water Resources Association and as Chairwoman of the Peter Barnes Wildlife Preserve Commission. Councilwoman Giamboi leaves a legacy of environmental advocacy and stewardship, including her contribution to the creation and adoption of a master plan of local ecology preservation for the largest undeveloped ecosystem in northern Middlesex County. This oversight will be instrumental in the continued restoration of the Woodbrook Superfund Site, and associated conservation efforts throughout the area. Dorothy played a pivotal role in securing grants from Sustainable Jersey and the National Park Service, including twenty-five thousand dollars to provide composters to residents. In 2015, Dorothy was named a Sustainability Hero by Sustainable Jersey. I am confident that the 6th Congressional District of New Jersey will thank her for her efforts to keep Middlesex County's greater environment safe, healthy, and thriving for years to come. As she embarks on this new phase, Dorothy is joined by her beloved two sons, husband, Alex Giamboi, two shih tzus, and grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, please join me on congratulating Dorothy Giamboi on her fourteen years of service with the Borough of Metuchen. It is my privilege to recognize her remarkable contributions to our community and offer my best wishes for a restful and joyful new stage in life.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this bill. It is a wholesale attack on clean energy under the guise of reliability. Americans can see through the nonsense here to the truth, and that is that Republicans are waging a culture war against wind and solar. American families are footing the bill with higher monthly utility bills. For a moment, I want to try to take Republicans at their word, that this bill is all about electric reliability, ensuring that the lights won't go out. In that case, I have excellent news for my Republican colleagues. The law this bill amends, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA, already does that. The law requires States to have an integrated resource plan that considers reliability. That is all we need to do, and Congress already did it 33 years ago. Of course, the only difference between that law and the language in this bill is the bogus definition about what counts as ``reliable generation facility.'' It should come as no surprise that the only things that count are coal, natural gas, and nuclear. That is it, not wind, not solar, not either of those even when paired with battery storage. It is completely ridiculous and the latest example of Republicans' relentless attack on cheaper and cleaner energy sources. Ever since President Trump took office earlier this year, Republicans have been obsessed with crusading against wind and solar whenever they can. They passed the big, ugly bill, which slashed tax incentives for clean energy and made electricity more expensive for everyone. They have tried to kill every wind or solar project on Federal lands and in Federal waters, driving up people's energy bills even further. Now, they are trying to put another thumb on the scale in favor of dirty fossil energy by pushing a bill with a fake definition of ``reliable generation.'' Unfortunately, the American people are paying the price. This past summer, when much of the United States was in a so-called heat dome fueled by climate change, the grid's electricity regulators said that solar helped save the day, preventing dangerous outages in that record heat. The reality is that no single source of electricity is perfect, but that is why storage and a diversity of generation resources are so important. Republicans don't care about how we can actually help the grid. Instead, they only care about extending fossil fuels at the expense of clean, cheap energy. This is just another instance when Republicans are doing the bidding of their corporate polluter friends over the needs of the American people. If they cared about the American people, they would be bringing bills to the floor that would actually address the affordability crisis. Instead, Republicans are debating this bill that they know will increase prices for Americans. By forcing States to consider preferencing dirty and expensive fossil energy, Republicans are increasing everyone's utility bills even more than they already have. It is just more of the same from a Republican Congress that is dead set on increasing costs for American families. I don't understand it, Madam Speaker. President Trump 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, cleaner energy. Since Trump took office, electricity prices are up 13 percent, and natural gas prices are up 8 percent. They simply don't care. They would rather continue to push bills like this that will make the affordability crisis even worse. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), who is the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Energy.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), our assistant Democratic leader.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier), who is a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mullin), who is also a member of our committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, may I ask the chairman if he is prepared to close.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise to object to the Trump administration and congressional Republicans' disastrous energy policies and their impacts on everyday Americans. We have a duty to ensure that our power grid can keep the lights on. That demands an all-of-the-above approach to energy. Given the unprecedented demand to add capacity to our grid as AI data centers continue to expand, we need to use every tool that we can to keep energy prices down. That means adding clean energy to the grid. It is the quickest source of energy to add to the grid given the current multiyear gas turbine shortage. Grid reliability regulators have been basically clear: Renewable energy and batteries were critical in allowing the grid to endure multiple heat waves this summer. That is why Texas has added more solar and wind energy to their power grid, more than any other State in the country, in the wake of their horrific blackouts during Winter Storm Uri 4 years ago. That is because solar energy helps keep the lights on. Unfortunately, Republicans seem uninterested in acknowledging that basic reality, that solar and wind, partnered with batteries, can be an essential part of a reliable power grid. Instead, they have done everything they can to increase the costs of these technologies and make it harder to add clean energy to the grid. They are using their power to subsidize dirty, expensive fossil fuel, all at the cost of American families who are struggling to afford their electricity bills. Now, if you don't believe me, just ask Secretary Chris Wright. At an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in June, he was blunt. The Secretary said: ``I have never been for all of the above, and if I said it at one point in time, I misspoke.'' There you have it, Madam Speaker. The Trump administration is staunchly against all of the above. The Secretary is saying it, and that makes sense. Their actions at least match their rhetoric. They are doing everything they can to put their thumb on the scale for dirty energy, including through this bill, H.R. 3628. They are canceling every single clean energy project they possibly can, no matter how helpful it might be to keeping electricity bills down or the lights on. Madam Speaker, the bills on the floor today will only worsen the Republican affordability crisis. Every time Americans open their power bill or see their lights flicker, Republicans are responsible. I think the American people will hold them accountable. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Chair, I urge opposition to the amendment because it doubles down on a bogus and misleading definition of ``reliable generation,'' a definition that would only include coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. While I would typically have no problem with a GAO report, I do have a problem with Republicans pretending that fossil fuel generation is perfect and that there is no room for clean, cheap energy in a diversified grid. In the last few years, Republicans have moved away from saying that clean energy is too expensive and are now claiming it is unreliable. Madam Speaker, the only reason they have done that is because they have firmly and permanently lost the argument. Clean energy is cheap energy. Everyone knows it, even Republicans now. In their desperation to keep Americans' energy bills high to keep the profits flowing for oil and gas, Republicans have started peddling the falsehood that clean energy isn't reliable. I want to be clear: There is no such thing as a perfectly reliable power plant. They all can run into problems. Renewables depend on wind and the Sun. Coal and gas often have issues in extreme heat or cold. That is why it is important that we pursue an all-of-the-above approach. Unfortunately, President Trump and his Secretary of Energy don't believe in all of the above. Instead, Republicans are out here working overtime to shill for coal and gas. It is just very sad. Madam Speaker, I urge opposition to the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PALLONE

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

Mr. PALLONE. 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.