releases: http://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=75068738-8e4b-4ea7-8934-939f18aecd85
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| http://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=75068738-8e4b-4ea7-8934-939f18aecd85 | Barrasso: Congress Will Vote to Stop Presidents Illegal Energy Regulations | 2015-11-17 | 2015 | 2015-11 | Republican | House | WY | John Barrasso | B001261 | www.barrasso.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the necessity of congressional action on the Obama administrations irrational, burdensome regulations that affect Americas energy industry ahead of this months international talks on climate change. Transcript of Senator Barrassos remarks: Mr. President, it's fascinating today to listen to my colleague and friend from Rhode Island because I just had the National Journal Daily printed today. Back-to-back pages talking about the terror, the horror in Paris and obviously the thoughts and the heartfelt condolences of the people of this country continue to go out to our friends in France who have stood by us and we will stand by them. One page talks about how President Obama has continued to underestimate ISIS. They go back -- this is in today's paper - quoting President Obama saying, The analogy we use around here sometimes and I think is accurate, - he says - if a J.V. team puts on a Lakers uniform, it doesn't make them Kobe Bryant. The president has continued to underestimate ISIS. The other side of the page, ISIS versus climate change. It talks about the Democrat debate Saturday night - national television after the tragic events in Paris the night before. The moderator asks one of the leading Democrats running for president, running second in the polls now, if that candidate has a chance to back off on his claims that climate change is the greatest security threat facing the country. That candidate says, in fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. That's the position I just heard from the senator from Rhode Island. It's a position we hear from a leading candidate for president of the Democrat side of the aisle. I would wonder how many Americans believe that, who if they heard that statement, believe that that's true. That's why I come to the floor today, Mr. President, to talk about President Obama's plans, his plans to tear down the American energy reliability, American energy stability - things that are important for our national security - because he wants to remake energy into a form that he prefers. The president has a strategy to do it. He made it clear when he was running for president back in 2008. He bragged that if his plans went through, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Ever since then, President Obama has been pushing to make that happen. When he tried to get part of his plan through Congress, even Democrats rejected it. They knew that the American people didnt want it, and the American economy couldnt afford it. Did President Obama listen to the people? Did he accept the overwhelming judgment of Congress that his extreme attacks on American energy were a bad idea? Of course not. The president is more interested in the opinion of far-left extreme environmentalists than he is in the opinion of hardworking Americans. He has done everything he could to give his plans the effect of law, without asking Congress to actually pass them as laws. He had his Environmental Protection Agency draw up regulations that would shut down American energy producers, and damage our own economy. Thats what the presidents own Energy Information Administration said. That agency put out a report that found that the EPAs new rule on carbon dioxide emissions would close coal-fired power plants, raise electricity prices and reduce the gross domestic product of our nation. Thats just one of many rules that the administration has been pushing into force without legal support. Every one of these rules would mean middle-class Americans losing their jobs and hardworking families paying higher electric bills. Put them all together, and the price tag could reach hundreds of billions of dollars. Whos asking President Obama to do this? Whos asking to pay more in their electric bill every month? People dont want it, and the president doesnt have the authority to do it. Thats why hes not asking Congress to weigh in on his plans. Thats why hes pushing these rules by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats instead of going to the people and their representatives. Well, the American people have a voice and they are making their voice heard through us today. Were here talking about two rules in particular. These are the restrictions on existing power plants and on new power plants that havent even been built yet. These are the core of what the president calls his Clean Power Plan. Were here to say that these rules go too far. The Obama administration has tried this before. Its pushed through other regulations that people didnt want, cant afford. The administration has said that it gets to decide whats best that it gets to decide what people should do. And the courts have legitimately have said: not so fast. This summer, the Supreme Court rejected a different EPA rule because the administration never bothered - this is what the court said never bothered to take into account the costs of that rule. The Supreme Court said: One would not say that it is even rational, never mind appropriate, to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits. Two courts have blocked the EPAs rule on Waters of the United States. One of the courts said that the rule was likely the result of a process that is inexplicable, arbitrary, and devoid of a reasoned process. Well, all of these other rules are suffering from the same kinds of problems. The Obama administration has been acting far beyond its authority, and far beyond anything that is rational or appropriate for our nation. The same day that president Obama put out the new rules for his so-called Clean Power Plan, 26 states filed lawsuits in federal court to stop this disastrous rule. Twenty-three states have sued to block the rule for new power plants. Twenty-seven states have sued to block the rule for existing power plants. I think that these states are going to win in court because these rules are so extreme, and this administration is so out of control. President Obama doesnt really care about any of that. He thinks that he still wins, even when he loses in court. He thinks that if he can drag this out long enough, businesses will have to spend the money to comply anyway. Thats what his EPA chief said before the last regulation got rejected by the Supreme Court. She went on television a few days before the decision and said that it didnt matter what the Supreme Court said, doesnt matter if the administration loses because the rule had already been in place for three years. Thats exactly what the Obama administration is counting on this time as well. Thats why it is so important that Congress act now to block these rules from taking effect. Were debating two measure that would do that. The measure by Senator McConnell and Senator Manchin this is bipartisan - would block the rule for new power plants. The measure by Senator Capito and Senator Heitkamp - once again a Republican and Democrat working together to block the rule for existing power plants. These are bipartisan resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. They are our chance for Congress to stand up for the people we represent. America cannot afford for these illegal rules to be in effect for three years before the courts toss them out. Theres another reason that Congress needs to vote to strike down these expensive, burdensome regulations immediately. Later this month, the president will be participating in the international talks on climate change. This is a meeting of about 200 countries to limit the amount of carbon dioxide and other emissions that each country can produce. The president desperately wants his so-called Clean Power Plan so people can say that hes leading on this issue. Without these illegal regulations, he has nothing to offer. Congress needs to make clear that the American people do not support these regulations. Foreign diplomats at the climate change conference need to understand that the rules will not stand up in court. President Obamas ego is writing checks that his administration cant cash. Any climate deal based on these flawed rules is simply not worth the paper it is printed on. Its time for President Obama to be honest about what he can and cannot do. If he wont admit that, then Congress is going to have to make it clear so that everyone understands. The American people do have a voice. They will not allow these reckless and destructive regulations to shut down American energy production. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |