{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-calls-on-senate-to-fix-americas-costly-complex-and-cumbersome-permitting-process/", "Barrasso Calls on Senate to Fix America\u2019s Costly, Complex, and Cumbersome Permitting Process", "2026-05-12", "2026", "2026-05", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cAmerica is a nation of builders. We are not a nation of waiters. It\u2019s time for America\u2019s permitting process to get out of the way.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) today discussed the challenges facing American builders because of the costly, complex, and cumbersome permitting process.\n\nSenator Barrasso previewed his legislation that would streamline permitting for new energy projects in Wyoming and across America.\n\nClick HERE to watch Senator Barrasso\u2019s remarks.\n\nSen. Barrasso\u2019s remarks as prepared:\n\n\u201cIt takes too long to build anything big in America. Americans want to build. Americans are ready to build. The problem is, to build today, it is costly, it is complex, and there is a cumbersome permitting process. In America, you need to get permission from the government to build just about anything.\n\n\u201cI represent Wyoming. Wyoming is America\u2019s energy breadbasket. We have world-class coal. Abundant supplies of oil and natural gas. And the richest uranium deposit in the world. All of these affordable, available, and reliable forms of American energy are ready to power our country. Not just now, but for generations to come.\n\n\u201cWe have world-class energy workers in Wyoming and energy workers around the country. They are ready to do the job. The federal permitting process is standing in their way.\n\n\u201cThe federal permitting process is fundamentally broken. Permitting has become burdened by bureaucracy and weaponized by litigation. We have a system that won\u2019t let work begin. American energy, mining, roads, bridges, and buildings \u2013\n\nall of them are caught in the crosshairs of a culture of no.\n\n\u201cEnergy projects have been especially delayed by the bureaucrats and trial lawyers. These are individuals who have never built anything, yet believe they deserve veto power over those who do. Meanwhile, energy demand in America is rising dramatically. The new energy demand in America is like adding another California to the grid.\n\n\u201cEvery permitting delay costs our economy. They mean higher utility bills. They mean paychecks are delayed or lost. They mean fewer investments in our communities. This is all unacceptable.\n\n\u201cWe need to produce more American energy. We need to produce more in order to lower costs. The best way to spur the government to issue permits is to impose strict deadlines and stop endless litigation. Builders need a clear yes or no. Once approved, they need certainty that their permits will endure.\n\n\u201cA law called the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, is the biggest obstacle. NEPA essentially halts any and all development in its tracks. NEPA was enacted in 1970. It requires costly and sprawling environmental reviews.\n\n\u201cAmerica was built by men and women of daring. Now, they face delays.\n\n\u201cOur forefathers laid steel across mountains. They poured concrete into canyons. They built towering skyscrapers that still inspire the world. They forged our nation\u2019s future with speed and purpose.\n\n\u201cAmerica built the Empire State Building in just 400 days. We built the Hoover Dam in just five years. We built the 2,000-mile Transcontinental Railroad in just six years.\n\n\u201cToday, a single environmental review under NEPA takes four years on average. That means you can\u2019t start construction without spending at least four years in the penalty box.\n\n\u201cIt is embarrassing that it takes as long to approve everyday projects today as it took to build the wonders of the modern world.\n\n\u201cRight now, $1.5 trillion in critical infrastructure is trapped on the desks of unelected, unaccountable, and heavy-handed bureaucrats. Americans pay for every year a project sits on those desks.\n\n\u201cTo make matters worse, NEPA is also one of the most litigated of all federal environmental laws. On average, 100 lawsuits related to NEPA are filed every year. Malicious lawsuits filed by radical environmental activists lead to higher costs, more delays, and no progress. Too many prefer legal molasses to affordable oil and gas.\n\n\u201cJust last year, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to limit the scope of NEPA\u2019s environmental review, which have grown dramatically. Justice Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion that NEPA has become \u2018a blunt and haphazard tool employed by project opponents\u2026 to try to stop or at least slow down new infrastructure or construction projects.\u2019 The Supreme Court is right. NEPA was once called the \u2018environmental Magna Carta.\u2019 Today, it is a regulatory Berlin Wall.\n\n\u201cSince Day One, President Trump has prioritized rolling back burdensome regulations. The President has accelerated the federal permitting process. Americans are already seeing the results. America is producing a record amount of energy. We can do more, and we can do it fast. Now is the time for Congress to act.\n\n\u201cI will soon introduce legislation to break the bottlenecks in federal permitting. That is the number one way to boost American energy and mineral dominance. It will also lower energy costs. My legislation will encourage access to oil and gas resources on federal lands and offshore. It will also enact common sense judicial reforms to NEPA.\n\n\u201cThe Senate has a good start on permitting reform. Senator Manchin and I introduced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. This was bipartisan legislation to fix the nation\u2019s broken permitting rules. It was carefully negotiated over the course of a year. It earned strong, bipartisan support. It passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee 15 to 4.\n\n\u201cToday, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Senator Mike Lee of Utah are taking the lead to advance common sense permitting reform. Senator Capito chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Senator Lee chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. They are the key committees for permitting reform. Senator Capito and Senator Lee are doing exemplary work. It is time for all Senators to find common ground.\n\n\u201cAmericans still know how to build. Americans build the best in the world. Americans want to build. America is a nation of builders. We are not a nation of waiters. It\u2019s time for America\u2019s permitting process to get out of the way.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-05-13T06:12:22Z", "2026-05-13T06:13:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/barrasso-calls-on-senate-to-fix-americas-costly-complex-and-cumbersome-permitting-process/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.219320110976696, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}